The True Princess
by avenger360blossom
Summary: Princess Sakura of the Kingdom of Spring agrees on an arranged marriage. But her life turns upside down when a servant girl threatens her and they end up switching positions. Will Sakura be able to reveal her identity in time with her brother, King Naruto's and Prince Sasuke's help? SasuSaku, slight NaruHina and other minor pairings.
1. The Arrangement

**Hey guys! This is my first time writing fanfiction. Right I want to be honest on this one, I've been reading stories lately and I found a story quite as similar to this and I loved it so much. But sadly, the writer couldn't finish the ending. So I vowed to complete it with my own ideas as well as the writer's because this story is dedicated to the Lerysakon who is the original writer of this story and I want to continue this for as long as you want. So I hope you enjoy the story everyone.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the other characters in the story.**

* * *

~Chapter 1: The Arrangement~

A field of flowers covered the earth. Their multihued beauty ornamenting the garden with gaudy petals floating about, whirling with the breeze that blew upon the magnificent place. The princess laughed and danced as she waltzed gracefully as the petals danced around her. Her vibrant rosy tresses, reaching several inches past her shoulder, flew about her as she twirled around while dazzling emerald orbs sparkled with bliss.

She loved the garden; its peacefulness and beauty giving her a peace of tranquility. It never failed to get her lost in her own euphoric world. Every dilemma left forgotten and every responsibility she had with her lineage disregarded. In the garden she was free, like a bird soaring in the skies. In this picturesque world of flora she was herself. Neither the perfect princess people expected her to be, nor the royalty that others treated with nothing but stereotypical respect merely because of her position. In this world of her own, she is herself. She is…Sakura Haruno.

* * *

"I see that you've been playing in the gardens again, Forehead." A young woman, equal in beauty to her best friend, remarked with amusement. Her lustrous platinum locks flowed past her waist and swayed to her every move. Her sapphire eyes regarding her closest friend with delight as she strutted towards Sakura's bed and settled herself beside the other.

"What makes you say that, Ino-pig?" The rosette inquired teasingly without sparing a glance at her best friend and continued to brush her hair.

"You smell like flowers again." Ino pointed out. She then smiled gently and added thoughtfully, "It suits your namesake."

"Shall I say that your appearance suits your namesake as well?" Sakura laughed at the frown that graced the blonde's features.

"Don't push it."

"I'm not." The other assured. "So, what brings you here?" Sakura asked as she turned to her best friend.

Ino smiled at her and spoke again, "King Naruto's here. He brought his wife with him."

Sakura's mood brightened immediately. "Ni-san is here? And Hinata-chan's here too? I can't wait to see them!"

* * *

"Kaa-chan, it's been a while." A dashing young man bowed to the Queen of the Kingdom of Spring.

The beautiful ruler laughed and beckoned him to rise. "My dear, you don't have to call me your mother if you don't wish to. Despite being raised as my son, you're not. You shouldn't compel yourself to do what you don't desire."

He laughed as he straightened up; as he did so, the light from the chandeliers made his already bright sun-kissed hair look more vivid. His bright cerulean blue eyes glinted with mischief when he replied. "Kaa-chan, when have I done something that I don't desire? I may have inherited my kingdom from my late parents but aside from Sakura-chan, I don't have any blood relation to speak of. You'll still be my mother, whether you like it or not."

The blonde queen chuckled at his response. "King Minato and Queen Kushina would be proud of you, Naruto."

The said person grinned. "I hope so."

"Ni-san!" Sakura ran into the room and tackled her brother into a hug. "I missed you so much!"

Naruto chuckled at her, "I missed you too, Imouto!" Naruto enveloped her sister into a tight hug. "Have you been playing in the gardens again?"

The rosette beamed at her brother, "How do you know?"

"Well, you still smell like flowers."

This made everyone in the hall laugh. Peeking around his shoulder was a beautiful young woman with waist-length midnight blue hair and unusual yet entrancing lavender orbs. Sakura recognized this woman as her sister-in-law and bounced over to her and hugged her. "Hinata-chan!"

Naruto's wife smiled gently at the girl. Hinata, seeing as she was the same as age as Sakura, is very close to her sister-in-law, so she hugged her back. "Hello Sakura-chan. How have you been?"

"Still in good health." The rosette answered grinning.

"Sakura, I want you to escort Queen Hinata to her room." The Queen of the Kingdom of Spring interrupted.

Sakura nodded and cheerfully replied, "Yes, Kaa-chan." She bowed before leading Hinata away by the hand.

As soon as they left, Naruto's cheerful expression became a troubled one.

"What's this issue you wish to speak to me about?" the woman asked seriously.

The blonde man took a deep breath before proceeding to explain his purpose. "As you've known, since the Kingdom of Leaf is right beside the Kingdom of Fan, I've become good friends with the younger prince there. I'm sure you've heard about the elder prince giving up his right to be King, leaving the younger prince as the next heir to the throne." The queen nodded in affirmation. "We've been planning to form an everlasting alliance between our kingdoms as soon as he inherits it. However, there is a problem; the current king refuses to give the throne to his younger son unless he marries."

"What are you saying?"

"He wants the younger prince to marry. And since he found out about the alliance, he demands a bride from my kingdom or the kingdoms that I'm allied with." Naruto sighed. "I have no one to offer and the other Kingdoms refuse to help me…their daughters are far too young, too old and some are already married and also the King of the Kingdom of Fan will not accept anyone but the best."

The queen's hazel eyes narrowed. "So you're saying that you plan to force your own sister into an arranged marriage?" she asked through her gritted teeth.

Naruto laughed. "Never!"

"Are there any consequences if this alliance isn't formed?"

"I'm afraid we'll have to go to war." The blonde man said regrettably. "The King of the Kingdom of Fan has been setting his sights on my kingdom for some time now. Now that my father is dead, he plans to take advantage of it. The only thing to stop this is the alliance." Naruto sighed. "I-I will never force my sister into this. I would fight instead…" He clenched his fist. "And besides I'm sure she won't accept it. That girl loves her freedom so much."

"I would." The subject-of-their-conversation's familiar voice echoed throughout the room. The two sovereigns glanced at the rosette's determination with wide eyes.

"I-Imouto! What are you doing here? How much have you heard?"

"Ino offered me to escort Hinata-chan instead. So I decided to come back. The mention of my name caught my attention, Forgive me, I didn't mean to eavesdrop." She said and bowed.

"What do you mean 'you accept', Sakura?" The queen's eyes narrowed dangerously as she stood up.

"I accept the arrangement." She said with as much as conviction as a queen.

"No, Sakura-chan! You can't do this! I can't take that freedom away from you! I-I'll just fight instead!" Naruto was distressed. He can't take away his sister's happiness.

The Princess gave her brother a reassuring smile. "The Kingdom of Leaf may not be where I have grown up but it is still my kingdom as much as yours. Please, let me fulfill my duty as a Princess of our Kingdom as well as a daughter to our late parents."

"But-"

"Innocent people will be hurt if a war is to occur. As the Leader of the Kingdom, you must do everything to protect your people, even if you have to marry your own sister. I am willing to do everything to protect our kingdom, what about you, Ni-san?"

Naruto was speechless. He found that he couldn't argue anymore because what his sister said was true. 'How could I have been so selfish?' He thought. He cannot risk his people's lives just because he wanted his sister's happiness. 'What about my people's happiness? No, I can't risk the lives of thousands. But still…' Despite this, the arrangement still didn't make him happy.

"Besides…" Sakura smiled. "…The prince is your best friend, isn't he? I'm sure he'll treat me well as respect to your friendship."

Naruto smiled forlornly. "I suppose so."

* * *

Sakura petted her horse's nose and nuzzled into its neck. "Oh Shiro… am I doing the right thing?"

Shiro has been Sakura's horse since she was a child. She had grown up with the stallion always at her side and she loved it dearly. And the best thing about Shiro is that it was an unusual horse; not only because of its pure white colour that made it look ethereal but also because of the fact that Shiro could talk.

"Only you yourself can judge your own actions, dear princess." Shiro said politely. His deep voice soothed Sakura as she continued to snuggle into his neck. "I cannot decide for you if it is correct or not."

"You're still as wise as ever." The rosette laughed. "You will accompany me on this journey, right Shiro?"

"Only if you wish for me to accompany you, princess." The mount replied politely and with a hint of fondness in its tone.

"It is my wish for you to do so"

"Then so be it." The stallion said and bowed his head with respect.

* * *

A week has passed and a group of people gathered around the castle gates, bidding their beloved Princess a safe trip. There were neither extravagant carriages around, nor a procession of soldiers to accompany the Princess; just the princess and her horse.

"I hate to admit this but, I _am_ going to miss you a lot, forehead." Ino told her childhood-best friend.

"I know. I'll miss you too, Ino-pig." Sakura smiled and hugged her.

"Hey, write a letter to me or something and be sure to describe everything about the prince, I heard that he's gorgeous! You're pretty lucky though, because I heard he's strong and valiant just like King Naruto." Ino pulled away and rambled.

Sakura laughed and shook her head at Ino's antics and smiled. Her best friend always liked talking about boys but unfortunately, hasn't found her 'perfect' match. She also remarked that Sakura was 'boring' because of her lack of interest in love. Sakura said it was for her protection since information about the Princess of Spring was very limited. Nevertheless, Sakura wanted her love of her life to be mysterious, witty, stronger, determined, calm, wise, sincere, caring, truthful and of course, beautiful. But since she agreed to an arranged marriage to save hers and her brother's Kingdom, she couldn't help but silently hope that her fiancé is _different_ from other princes from royal families who would only go after her looks, wealth and especially, her kingdom.

It has been decided that the princess was to travel alone with one servant to accompany her. It would draw less attention and would lessen the chances of being robbed. Also, it was widely known fact that the King of the Kingdom of Fan not only wanted a refined lady in his family but also someone who could stand up for herself. Sakura had been trained by her foster mother, one of the strongest women in history, Queen Tsunade of the Kingdom of Spring, so she could protect herself. Also, by presenting herself this way, it would increase the chances of her being accepted into the family.

"Sakura…" Tsunade stepped forward. "…I have found a servant to accompany you." She gestured for someone behind her. A girl of Sakura's age stepped forward. She had crimson hair with one side unkempt and the other neatly let down. She had matching ruby-coloured eyes hidden behind her glasses. Sakura had to admit that this girl was somewhat pretty.

"This is Karin…She will be accompanying you on your journey." The queen introduced.

Karin bowed to the princess. "It is an honour, Your Highness."

Sakura smiled at her. She seemed nice. "It's nice to meet you too, Karin"

When Karin stepped back, Shiro who stood behind the pink-haired princess nudged its mistress. "Princess, be wary of her. There's something amiss."

Sakura was about to say that the stallion was being paranoid but she paused. Shiro had never been wrong about his predictions before. Everything Shiro had said had always a reason behind them and she never was doubted him. She kept his warning in mind.

"Sakura…" Tsunade broke her foster daughter's reverie. "…here." She gave Sakura a handkerchief with three drops of blood. "This is my own blood. It is said that when one carries the blood from their parent with them they will be protected from harm, for the Gods favour their familial piety. I pray that, despite this being simply a superstition, it would safeguard you."

"Thank you, Kaa-chan." The princess smiled and hugged the woman.

When the two separated, the princess' biological brother cut-in and held her close and whispered. "Imouto, please take care of yourself. I will be returning to the Kingdom of Leaf tomorrow and then I'll visit you immediately." He then pulled away and grinned at her. "I sent a letter to my friend, announcing your arrival. He'll treat you well; else he'll find himself in friendly terms with my fist." Naruto emphasized his point by raising his fist and giving her a wink.

Sakura giggled softly and kissed her brother's cheek. "I'll hold you onto that, Ni-san."

"Believe it."

* * *

The Prince of the Kingdom of Fan sighed exasperatedly. 'Why is it that when Itachi was to be king, all he had to do was be the 'perfect' son that he already is? And when _I_ have to be king, I have to marry a _princess_ just so I ascend the throne.' He thought angrily and glared out the window. He let out another sigh. 'Existence is so unjust.'

"Your Highness." A voice called out from outside his room.

"What do you want?" The prince asked coldly. His emotionless obsidian eyes glared at the door, as if it were the cause of all his problems.

"I-I bring a message for you."

He growled at the triviality of the cause of his train of thought being derailed. "I'll take it later. You are dismissed."

The prince smirked; he knew that the messenger was probably shaking by now. It brought him sadistic pleasure to see people tremble beneath his presence. No, he wasn't cruel to the point that he'll love it for people to forever fear him. He just needed a source of amusement for the time being, even for just the sake of keeping his emotions in check and not lashing out at how unjustly his father him. He is Sasuke Uchiha…and he never loses control of his emotions, ever.

"B-But Your Highness!" The messenger stammered as he protested. "It is from King Naruto from The Kingdom of Leaf!"

One of Sasuke's finely shaped in eyebrows raised in curiosity as he stood up. 'Message from the dobe? What could he possibly want _now_? ' He turned around and walked leisurely to the door and opened it. He then snatched the scroll out of the messenger's grasp and slammed the door right in his face. For a few seconds, Sasuke stood in front of the closed door and listened to the sound of the messenger's feet scurrying away as far as possible from the prince's quarters; this made an amused smirk crawl its way onto his lips.

When the prince sat himself in front of his desk, he had already finished reading the scroll that came from his best friend. Apparently, the blonde had found him a bride and she was on his way to his Kingdom. He sighed; 'If the princess is a fan girl, I won't hesitate to experiment numerous methods of torture on that dobe; every single one of it.' He thought, quite annoyed.

He hated girls that went after his looks; he loathed it when they throw themselves at his feet or drool at him from afar. He hated it that they only saw him as a piece of trophy that could be won if they emerged victorious in a pathetic battle of hair-pulling among themselves. Sasuke rolled his onyx eyes, 'Have they no shame?'

However, His best friend emphasized on his letter that the princess wasn't a fan girl. That she was perfect. Sasuke didn't know how accurate the blonde was but he chose to trust his judgement. He was about to roll up the scroll when he noticed what seemed to be the last-minute scribbles at the end of the message. He unrolled the parchment even further and found a passage that Naruto added.

He read it and smirked. 'Interesting…' It was, apparently, a poem that the people of the Kingdom of Spring composed as attribute to their princess. 'This girl is obviously loved.' He mentally noted. He browsed through the poem again.

 _Dance in the palace gardens,_

 _Beneath Day star's dazzling gleam,_

 _O' elegant Princess of Spring_

 _Of beauty nothing could dim._

 _~o~_

 _Of vibrant rosy tresses;_

 _Carnations cannot compare._

 _With sparkling eyes of a gem;_

 _An entrancing tint so rare._

 _~o~_

 _Of fragrant blossoms scented,_

 _Waltzing in the gentle breeze,_

 _Loveliest among a flower bed_

 _O' nymph of the cherry trees._

'If she is indeed as interesting as the poem says…then I might as well, be looking forward to her arrival…' he thought amusingly. 'But first, I must inform Father about this.' And off he went.

* * *

 **Alright! So…What do you think? Did you like it? Did you LOVE it? Did you hate it? Was the 1** **st** **chapter good enough? Do I need to update other chapters? I would really need your feedback; please review so that I can improve even more and continue the story.**

 **Very well, until next time!**

 _ **~Avenger360Blossom**_


	2. The Switch

**Thank you all for reading my story people. You have no idea how much this means a lot to me. So to return the favour, here's another chapter of 'The True Princess'. Read, Review, Enjoy…more importantly please review.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the other characters in the story. Just the random characters and the plotline.**

* * *

~Chapter 2: The Switch~

It has been two days since Sakura and Karin left the Kingdom of Spring. In this short span of time, Sakura figured that Shiro was indeed right; there was something amiss about Karin. She couldn't put a finger on it but she could feel it. The girl hadn't done anything to make her think this but, there was this air of…hostility around the servant girl. The worst part is that Sakura felt it was directed towards her. 'Strange. I wonder if I did anything bad to deserve this resentment, but there's nothing I can come up with.' She thought.

However, she wasn't able to ponder on this any longer because she was more focused on getting out of this unbearable heat than anything at the moment. It would take them a few more hours to get to the Kingdom of Fan and Sakura was determined to get there as soon as possible if it meant refuge from the searing heat. Also, she'd like to avoid confrontation with any bandits so she wanted to hurry. One thing she didn't expect though, was finding her water container empty.

She urged Shiro to stop before looking for sources of water. Fortunately she noticed a stream not too far away from where they were. It was sparkling underneath the sun, beckoning her to come over and drink. Sakura didn't know the extent of the effects of dehydration on her until she dismounted Shiro. She almost fell on the ground if not for the support of her horse. Feeling weakened by the effects and the lack of water in her system, she kindly asked her companion, "Karin. There is a stream to your left. Would you kindly fetch some water for me, please?" However to the princess' shock, Karin haughtily refused by replying, "Hmph. I'm sure you're capable of getting water on your own. Get it yourself!"

If Sakura wasn't exhausted, she would've let her temper get to her and the servant would end up with a bleeding nose. But that was the least of the rosette's concerns; 'Ugh. I can't just stand here. I'm going to get some water right _now._ And I could care less if that girl doesn't help me get it.'

* * *

Sakura was able get to the stream with Shiro's help and immediately dropped to her knees. She then drank water by scooping it up with her cupped hands, and splashed some water on her face to refresh herself.

As Sakura bent down, the handkerchief with her foster mother's blood on it fell out of her bodice. She instantly picked it up before it fell into the stream. While staring at the three drops of blood, a thought came to her mind. She imagined that the drops of blood were talking to her and telling her the reaction of Tsunade in her current predicament.

' _If your mother were to know how the servant treated you,_

 _She would surely shatter a mountain into two_

 _Then break the servant's bones into many pieces too.'_

Sakura giggled. Her foster mother, in rage would indeed break a mountain if she were to know what happened. And then, when she gets her hands on Karin, she'd surely break every bone in the red-head's body. Tsunade despite not being her real mother is fiercely protective of her and her brother.

Looking up in the sky, she realized that if she wanted to get to the Kingdom of Fan by sunset, then they'll have to head out now. Returning to where her companion was, Sakura decided to just ignore Karin and her glares she's been shooting in her direction.

A few more hours have passed and Sakura felt thirsty again. Forgetting about how Karin treated her earlier, she again asked her to get some water from another stream nearby. Again the redhead arrogantly told her to get some water herself. Too exhausted to argue, Sakura decided to do it herself again, still with the help of Shiro. However, what the princess didn't notice was that her only protection, the handkerchief with her mother's blood on it, dropped out of her bodice when she dismounted her horse. Unfortunately, Karin noticed this and with a sinister smile, picked up Sakura's protective charm.

When Sakura finally came back from drinking from the stream, a group of bandits came by. Although it was quite unfortunate, Sakura knew that they'd have to face some hindrances sooner or later. Using her strength and skills her foster mother taught her, Sakura had bandits flung into trees within minutes. Of course, she didn't get away unscathed. Her wounds were minor but she lost a lot of energy from the fight. What's worse is that Karin only stood by her sideline and didn't even bother to lift a finger to help.

When there were no more threats to their safety, Sakura was about to yell at Karin when the redhead suddenly had her pinned to the ground with her dagger dangerously near the princess' throat.

"Well, well, well princess…not so tough now, are you? Now that you don't have your _precious_ charm."

Sakura's eyes widened in shock and she tried to wiggle her hands free to look for the charm Tsunade gave her. However, Karin's wicked laughter stopped her movement. The servant took out a cloth from her pocket and showed it to the princess; it was the handkerchief.

"Looking for this?" she taunted. The rosette tried to get out of the other's hold but was too exhausted to be able to succeed. Karin grabbed the nearest and biggest stone. She wrapped it with the handkerchief and threw it down the river. Sakura gaped as she witnessed her mother's gift sink in the water along with the stone.

"Now listen carefully, _princess_ …" Karin spat out the title venomously. "…You will do as I say, or else…you die a horrible death."

"What makes you think I'm afraid of you? I'm not cowardly enough to do as you tell me just because of a threat to my life." Sakura hissed. But the redhead just gave her a sinister smirk.

"I see…how about if I were to threaten the safety of the Kingdom of Leaf and Spring?" Karin sneered. This made Sakura freeze, so Karin explained. "What would happen if the King of the Kingdom of Fan finds out that the Princess of the Kingdom of Spring committed suicide just to avoid the marriage to his son? Oh dear! What an insult aimed at the Royal Family!"

Emerald eyes widened in shock as the meaning behind those words were understood. If Karin were to fabricate a story of the princess' death, making it seem that she killed herself, then it would be an offense against the Kingdom of Fan's Royal Family. It would look as if they weren't good enough for the princess and that would anger the king. He'd surely confront her kingdom as well as the kingdom her brother rules over by means of violence. 'I can't let both kingdoms be forced into war...'

"Also…I have a few friends among your mother's guards. One wrong move _princess_ and your mother may find herself in front of heaven's gate." Karin threatened. "Well now, are you ready to cooperate then?"

'Kaa-chan's life is on the line too. I guess I have no choice then.' She thought and gritted her teeth. "Fine."

"Good…However, you'll have to swear an oath. You are not to speak of this incident or any other future incidents to anyone. Whatever my story is, you _will_ agree to it!" Karin ordered. Sakura reluctantly nodded in agreement. "Now switch clothes with me. I am now the princess and you are the servant."

"What?" Sakura gasped but was immediately silenced by the feel of the cold blade against her neck.

"You are to do what I say." Karin reminded. "Or else, you know the consequences."

The real princess hesitated at first but then she sighed and agreed. So when they set out, Sakura was on Karin's horse in servant's clothes while Karin was on Shiro in princess' clothes. Shiro was, to say the least, very displeased to be carrying the woman that dared threaten his mistress but he had to do so to protect the rosette and the kingdoms she cared for. 'After all, it wouldn't make sense if 'the princess' was on a less magnificent mount compared to me.' Shiro thought sarcastically.

* * *

True to Sakura's prediction, they were able to arrive at the Kingdom of Fan's territory by sunset. Sakura was amazed at the Kingdom of Fan's beauty, the streets and the villagers' merrily continuing their ways. As they passed through the village, people whispered about the two strangers that entered their town. They chattered about the beauty of the 'princess' as she passed by them; with her long scarlet hair and ruby eyes, she immediately had them praising her much to Karin's pleasure.

More comments were about to be mentioned as regards to the 'princess' when some of the people caught the sight of her companion. Based on her clothes, it was obvious that she was the 'servant' of the 'princess'. A white cloth that looked like the hood of her cape covered her hair and the bottom part of her face but those who were close enough caught a glimpse of her captivating eyes. Even without experience in fighting, the villagers were certain that the wounds on the servant's skin were from a fight, probably by bandits. This impressed them; the 'servant girl' obviously took on these bandits by herself seeing as the 'princess' didn't have any scratch on her. But something else caught their attention. Despite her clothes that befitted a slave and the wounds that littered parts of her skin, there was something about her that drew the villagers' attention. The way she rode her mount suited someone as royalty as her back arched in a regal composure and her head held high. If not for her clothes and the way she followed her 'mistress' around, the people might've thought that she was a princess herself.

Fortunately for Sakura, Karin did not notice the stares directed at the 'servant girl'. After all the main reason that Karin ordered Sakura to cover her hair was to avoid attention from being snatched away from the red-head. The rosette finally arrived at the palace. 'Phew. Thank Kami we made it to the palace. I was starting to worry that Karin might notice that I've been receiving attention from the people of Fan.' She thought.

When they entered, one of the guards led the horses towards the stables while another guard led the two young women into the magnificent palace. As they headed to the hall room, Sakura couldn't help but feel impressed by her surroundings. 'This place is huge and…magnificent…not that my palace looks any less extravagant though.' She thought. She was too engrossed in glancing at different features that she almost bumped into something. More like someone.

"Oh, pardon me; I did not intend to collide into you." Sakura apologized while bowing with respect. She was thankful that she kept her hood on since it helped hide the blush of embarrassment that crawled on her cheeks.

"I understand; I'm quite aware of the fact that it wasn't your intention. Please rise." Was the man's smooth reply.

Sakura tentatively glanced at the man and was met with amazing onyx eyes. He was obviously a few years older than she was, but he was just so handsome that she couldn't take her eyes off of him for a while. He was smirking at her like he knew what she was thinking.

"What are doing you insufferable slave! What's taking you so-Oh! Prince Itachi!" Karin was cut off when she recognized the elder prince. She then bowed down elegantly. "It is an honour to meet you."

Itachi raised a brow, "You must be the Princess of the Kingdom of Spring. Princess…" he trailed off.

"Karin, Your Highness." She supplied.

"Ah, Princess Karin. It is an honour to meet you as well." He gave a small bow. "I have been curious about you for a while now, Princess. Queen Tsunade of the Kingdom of Spring is incredibly determined to keep your identity hidden from other Kingdoms."

"Yes, she is indeed protective." Karin replied nonchalantly.

Itachi raised a brow at the way the princess spoke but shrugged it off. He cleared his throat and said, "My apologies, Princess Karin. I must take my leave now. Perhaps, I shall see you again." Then he returned his gaze at Sakura and smiled. "Feel free to enjoy the palace, miss."

She blushed but bowed respectfully. When she straightened herself she stared at the retreating back of the prince. She couldn't believe she bumped into Prince Itachi of the Kingdom of Fan. Like what Itachi stated, Tsunade didn't want to show Sakura to the Royalty or Noble Families from outside their Kingdom for fear that they'd want her for their wife. And since this is Tsunade he was talking about, her over-protective foster-mother, she didn't want that. 'Ino was right about him though. He _is_ intelligent and _incredibly_ handsome. Wait, wait, wait, handsome is too…trivial. Charming is more like it.'

Karin noticed that her companion didn't follow her and she was annoyed. "Don't just stand there like a lifeless statue! We're already late because of you, so hurry up!" She barked. Sakura grudgingly followed. 'I wish Ino would accompany me. If she was here, that girl wouldn't stand a chance.' She thought and sighed.

* * *

A smirk made its way onto the elder prince's lips. As he strolled along the extravagant hallways of his home, his thoughts wandered off to the girl he met several moments earlier. Not the scarlet haired princess but her companion. He had to admit, the princess was pretty but that just didn't compare to the entrancing emerald orbs that had been staring at him apologetically. It wasn't just that, there was this air of…elegance and poise that intrigued him. 'Not that I'm interested in her as a lover or anything. She's somewhat…mysterious.'

It was the way she communicated and carried herself. He noticed the eloquence she possessed as she addressed him. Her words were full of formality and respect that it was rather questionable whether she was a servant or not. He also noticed the way she stood up straight, shoulders squared and chin held high like that of royalty. Comparing to the princess, it was indeed debatable that the servant seemed more regal than the one of blue blood.

When people spoke of Itachi's intelligence, they never exaggerated. So it just goes to show that even though little things such as these never cross each other's minds, people as intellectual as Itachi would be intrigued by them. 'There is something amiss, but I can't seem to put a finger on it…I will get to the bottom of this. People don't call me Itachi Uchiha for nothing. But first I have to find out…if my suspicions have any basis at all.' He thought.

* * *

 **Phew! Finally…another chapter has come to an end. My school has started and my O levels are nearing so it'll take a lot of time to finish this. But don't worry, this is just the beginning; and from the next chapter I guarantee there WILL be SasuSaku.**

 **Oh, let me give you a hint on the next chapter: Someone will die...but who?**

 **That's for me to know and you to find out.**

 **Three words: Read. Review. Enjoy. Especially, Review...**

 _ **~Avenger360Blossom**_


	3. The Meeting

**Hello everyone, I'm back. Once again, thank you all for reading and reviewing my story. And speaking of my story, this was supposed to be a three-shot, but I wanted to make this longer. So as I said before there will be more chapters coming up and hopefully I'll be able to update them.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the other characters in the story.**

* * *

~Chapter 3: The Meeting~

'That dobe…the moment I see that imbecile, I am going to ensure that he would feel the very essence of the word _'pain'._ I could care less if anyone calls me sadistic.' Sasuke inwardly groaned and mentally killed his best friend with his several methods of torture; each becoming a lot more brutal than the previous. This activity gave him great relish at the moment and brought a smirk on his features. And it was indeed none of his concern either if anyone regards him as a sadistic person, because currently he's feeling very irritated at his predicament and Naruto seemed to be the perfect outlet. Why is he not happy, you ask? Well why should he be? His annoyance concerns a certain scarlet-haired princess and the moment she walked in, one thought crossed his mind: _'Fan girl'._ No matter how subtly she kept it, he could see it in her eyes. He could already tell if one is a fan girl just by a mere glance, he was sure that this princess was one. And he blamed Naruto for choosing _her_ as his bride.

"King Fugaku, Queen Mikoto. " Karin greeted and bowed gracefully. "…It is an honour to finally meet you."

Mikoto smiled at her while Fugaku eyed her critically. "It is a pleasure to meet you as well my dear." The queen replied pleasantly. "Knowledge about the princess of the Kingdom of Spring is very limited. I'm very glad to meet you personally."

"You are too kind, Your Majesty." Karin replied.

"So you came here without an entourage. Very impressive, I must say, for a girl who lived a sheltered life. It is a great feat to be able to travel with only one servant." Fugaku commented. Though his words were complimenting, his eyes remained observant. His intense gaze almost made Karin fidget.

At her husband's words, Mikoto shifted her attention towards the girl behind the princess. She couldn't tell how the servant looked like because of the white hood that covered her hair and face, but she could make out a few bruises. She gasped and immediately headed towards the girl.

Sakura stared at the approaching queen with wide eyes. 'Did I…Did I do something wrong?'

When Mikoto stood in front of her, the queen took her hands and examined her arms. "Oh dear, you're hurt. Were you attacked by bandits by any chance?"

Sakura could only nod for she was so shocked at the kindness of the beautiful woman that she was currently at a loss for words. 'The princes must be lucky to have a beautiful and caring mother like her. Her kindness is so…unimaginable.'

Fugaku's eyes narrowed. "So this servant girl protected you while you did not defend yourself? " His tone was unimpressed. 'I wanted a strong girl for Sasuke, not someone who needed protecting.' He thought.

"I-I did defend myself, your Majesty...I was just…fortunate enough to be unscathed." Karin stuttered and sent a deadly glare at Sakura for being humiliated. However despite being delivered only for a split second; what she didn't know was that this gesture didn't go unnoticed by the younger prince.

Seeing the fierce look that promised nothing pleasant, Sakura immediately bowed to the queen.

"Your Majesty, there is no need to show concern for me."

Mikoto shook her head. "No dear, you are to be treated immediately." She said with firmness in her tone. She then turned to one of the maids who work in the Kingdom of Fan. "Maid, take this young lady to one of our finest doctors, please. I don't want to see any single bruise left untreated."

"Yes, Your Majesty. Right this way, miss." The maid gestured to the corridors.

Sakura nodded and proceeded to follow her. Before leaving she felt obliged to show how much she appreciated the queen's kindness and show respect towards this ever-so compassionate woman that she didn't care about Karin. 'Might as well do it while I still can.' She thought. So she stopped on her tracks and turned around and bowed gratefully to the queen with a grace that a servant couldn't possibly possess. "May the Heavens bless you, Your Majesty." She thanked before leaving. Mikoto stared at the girl in surprise. 'Strange. I never expected her to carry such eloquence; like that of a princess.' Mikoto thought. Even Fugaku was taken aback by her amazingly well-mannered actions.

After a moment or two, Fugaku turned his attention back to the scarlet-haired princess fired his first question. "Alright. Back to the matters at hand. Do you know why you are here?"

"Yes, Your Majesty." Karin replied with a nod.

"You are to be betrothed to my younger son, Prince Sasuke Uchiha of the Kingdom of Fan." The King stated, gesturing towards Sasuke's direction. Karin eyed the young man flirtatiously. Sasuke almost grimaced but kept an emotionless facade and nodded in acknowledgement.

"For the sake of an alliance, King Naruto of the Kingdom of Leaf recommended you to be the very person to cement this coalition." Fugaku started. "However, I would like to inquire about how you two are related to each other."

Sasuke raised a brow curiously. 'Now that I think about it, Naruto never really specified about what his relation with the Princess was. That dobe did describe her as someone very important to him. Maybe they were foster-siblings? Clearly, he mentioned that he grew up in the Kingdom of Spring with the princess.' He thought.

Karin stood there racking her brains with possible answers. 'I can't possibly say that I'm King Naruto's sister, that will ruin my plans.' However to her immense advantage, the information between the real relationship between Princess Sakura and King Naruto were only kept within the kingdom. They didn't want Sakura to be a target of the enemies of the Kingdom of Leaf so even that information was kept hidden from the outside world. Fortunately, the people of the Kingdom of Spring were greatly loyal to the Royal Family. And those who tried to spread any information were immediately dealt with. Queen Tsunade even spread false rumours – not the demeaning kind, of course – just to satisfy the curiosity of neighbouring countries who try to send spies into their Kingdom.

So after a few moments of deliberation, Karin answered, "We are very…good friends, Your Majesty."

While Fugaku continued to ask the princess various questions, Sasuke took the time to watch her carefully. He just made sure that she didn't notice in case she mistook his observations for something…well, intimate. The second verse of the poem included in the letter that he received from Naruto echoed in his head.

 _Of vibrant rosy tresses;_

 _Carnations cannot compare._

 _With sparkling eyes of a gem;_

 _An entrancing tint so rare._

Seeing her appearance, the poem did match. Her scarlet hair was indeed like red roses and her eyes were the colour of rubies. It was a certainly rare colour to have. The poem clearly stated that the princess was unique in her own way. 'Still, why do I feel like I expected something more? Something unusual? Of course, her eyes are unusual but that's about it. I have to admit that she _is_ somewhat pretty.' Then he inwardly groaned in annoyance. 'But clearly, she's not different from all those pathetic girls, always chasing after me.' He was about to ask his father's permission to leave when Fugaku's next question caught his attention.

"What should we do with the servant girl?"

The prince remembered the glare Princess Karin sent towards her servant. 'So the princess is ungrateful to common people. It's her fault that she can't fight.' He also recalled how the servant thanked her mother for her concern and the unusual grace and eloquence she possessed. 'Strange...'

"You may do to her whatever you wish."

Mikoto slightly frowned at the answer. 'Doesn't this girl feel any tinge of gratefulness towards her servant? After all, that girl saved her from bandits!' Somehow she has taken a liking to the young woman who showed immense appreciation towards her. She sighed. 'It is rare to find people who show genuine gratitude nowadays.'

"I've heard that the one who cleans the weapons have recently quit. Would that job suffice?" Fugaku asked.

Not really caring, Karin nodded. Fugaku was about to say something else when Mikoto interrupted. "Would it be alright if…she were to serve me as well? Only sometimes when she's not tired."

Fugaku raised his brow at the queen's request but nodded nonetheless.

However, Karin stood rigid. 'If Sakura tells the queen about the situation, then I'll be in big trouble. I'll have to show the girl that I still have the upper hand.' Karin smirked. 'And I have the _perfect_ idea…Let me show you how I have the power to carry out threats, _Sakura_. Then you can never say anything to anyone again.'

Karin was pulled out of her thoughts by Fugaku's voice. "The engagement will be announced in a few months; in the meantime, you will have to familiarize yourself with the kingdom. Do you have any request to make your stay comfortable?"

"Thank you for the offer, Your Majesty. But I do have one request though." Karin smiled deviously.

* * *

Two days passed since she and Karin arrived at the Kingdom and she has just been informed of her job. So when she was heading towards the training grounds to clean the weapons, she decided to pass by the stables, which was on the way. But suddenly, she yelled in horror at the men in front of her, "No!" Tears welled up at the corner of her eyes as she caught sight of what they were holding. She found two men bringing out the severed head of a familiar horse.

Sakura couldn't believe her eyes. 'No. No, No, No, No. It can't be. Shi-Shiro's…dead? H-How could this have happened!?' she thought as she choked on her tears.

"W-Why did you do this? Why!? What did it to do deserve this?" Sakura asked the two men desperately. One of them looked at her sympathetically before answering.

"It was under the orders of Princess Karin. She stated that the horse offended her in some way so it deserved to be punished and she ordered its execution."

"No! Shiro!" she sobbed. She ran her hand through the mane of the stallion and continued to mourn. After all, in this kingdom where she didn't have a single friend, her only confidant would be her talking horse. But now, even that was taken away from her.

Her outburst though caught the attention of two men. They were just passing by the training grounds when they heard the commotion. Curious as to what was happening, Itachi dragged his younger brother, who was startled by his action, behind the stable much to Sasuke's annoyance, but he couldn't help but feel curious as well; the two brothers watched the interaction silently. After all, this was the girl his mother took an interest in.

"Please sir, I'll buy the head. Just hang it here on the gate of the stables!" she begged desperately. At least she wanted a reminder of the stallion she was fond of. She took out a small bag of coins and gave it to them. It was a good thing that she kept some money with her. "Please, I implore you. This is all have."

Feeling sorry for the girl, the man replied, "...Well, this horse _was_ really an amazing one…even _we_ couldn't bring ourselves to… you know…so the least we can do is agree to your wish."

She smiled gratefully though it was unnoticed since she still kept the hood of her cape that hid her features. However, the man could clearly see the gratitude in her beautiful eyes so he couldn't help but smile back.

"We'll bring the head to a craftsman to make it into a proper display so we can hang it at the stables. We can't have it rotting now, can we?" He proposed genuinely. He then turned to his friend. "Won't we Kotetsu?"

The said man sighed. 'He's too kind-hearted for his own good.' Nodding his head, he replied. "Yes we will. Izumo and I will hang it here by tomorrow." But when he saw the gratitude in her eyes, he had to smile slightly.

"Thank you! Thank you so much!" she bowed in gratitude.

Itachi stared at the girl with surprise while Sasuke, though he had an emotionless façade, he glanced at the girl with surprise and…pity. The two brothers glanced at each other in wonder. "Strange girl isn't she? I mean, why would she be concerned like…that, with the princess' horse?" Itachi whispered.

"I don't know…but I still am not convinced about the reason for its execution…" Sasuke answered.

"I'm telling you, Sasuke, there is something amiss." Itachi remarked. Sasuke couldn't help but agree to his brother's statement

When Izumo and Kotetsu left, Sakura glared at the ground. Her hands clenched into fists, her knuckles turning white. Others may think that Karin killed off the horse because of such a petty reason, But Sakura knew very well behind Karin's intention. This was a warning for Sakura; if she were to break the oath then Karin won't hesitate to carry out her threats. She then sighed with grief and her tears flowed down her face. 'Oh Shiro…I'm-I'm so sorry…'

* * *

Despite being grief-stricken, Sakura still fulfilled her duty and proceeded to the training grounds. She gathered the weapons that littered the grounds and brought them to one side to be cleaned. One of the other servants who had this job before had already taught her how to clean them; not that she needed any instruction, of course. One of her friends back in her kingdom was known as the Weapon Mistress after all, so she had knowledge about this job.

She marveled at how the weapons were crafted finely to perfection. 'Wow! Even Tenten-chan would be impressed by this!'

As thoughts of her home flooded her mind, she couldn't help but feel homesick. Her hands moved on their own in polishing the blades but her mind was somewhere else. She sighed. 'I miss my home so much…I wish I could tell my Ni-san about what I'm going through; and the garden where I used to play; and Kaa-chan to see if she's alright; and Shiro whom I always speak about my problems; and I wish I could write to Ino about the prince; wait, now that I think about it, I never got to see him. Not Prince Itachi but his younger brother; the one I'm supposed to marry. He was there when I first arrived at the Kingdom but I was too busy to notice him.' She then sighed as she finished cleaning the weapon in her hand and proceeded to clean another one. 'And maybe I won't see him again, now that _Karin_ will be the one marrying him…'

She was so deep in thought that she didn't notice the arrival of two princes. She only became aware when a pale hand grasped the long sword in front of her; the one she had just cleaned. She was somewhat startled and immediately snapped up to see the owner of the hands. Emerald clashed with onyx but Sakura couldn't help but be mesmerized as they weren't the same dark eyes she saw when she bumped with the older prince. This pair was much more…spellbinding, that Sakura found herself lost in his eyes and she couldn't bring herself to look away. She could've sworn she stopped breathing and her heart raced when she stared at the gorgeous, yet, stunning young man.

She then studied his features; his ebony locks that had an unusual yet unique style that framed his face so perfectly that she fought the urge to run her fingers through them. His alabaster skin that complimented his hair and his eyes that she wanted to feel the feathery touch of his cheek under her hand. His finely shaped eyebrows that lined in place above his onyx eyes and she felt the need to trace each line with her fingers. Then her gaze moved to his thin, luscious and peachy lips. She didn't want to go there, for a part of her wanted to…bridge the gap between them. 'Bad Sakura, very...very, bad.' She cursed herself. But to her relief and disappointment, the gorgeous young man looked away. She shook her head and looked down in embarrassment. Good thing he hadn't seen her blushing thanks to the hood. But she felt somewhat attracted to him that she forgot everything else. 'He took my breath away…'

When Sasuke looked away; likewise, all he could think about was that he found himself staring into the most unusual yet, captivating pair of orbs he had ever seen. That time, he wanted to break the eye contact but he just couldn't stop staring into this girl's eyes. They were the colour of emeralds, he concluded; a very unique shade indeed.

 _With sparkling eyes of a gem;_

 _An entrancing tint so rare._

When the second verse of the poem entered his mind, he wondered why he was thinking about those lines and that's when he broke his gaze away from her and turned around to face his brother. He noticed that Itachi was glancing at the girl then at him then back at her again. A smirk made its way across the older prince's face.

Sasuke groaned in annoyance after he realized that his brother saw what happened. Before Itachi could utter a word, his brother interrupted him with a low growl, "Not a word, Itachi."

Itachi gave him an amused look as he saw his brother's retreating form. He then approached the girl and picked up a sword. As he bent down, his mouth close to her ear, Itachi inconspicuously whispered. "I will get to the bottom of this mystery. Mark my words."

When the older prince straightened himself, he watched the eyes of the girl. He only said those words to find out what her reaction will be. Since she kept that ridiculous hood on her face, he can't see her expression but Itachi knew how to read people that even if he couldn't see her face, her eyes alone would give him her reaction. After all, the eyes were the windows to a person's soul.

When Itachi turned away his smirk was gone. The answer he got from her eyes confirmed his suspicions. Fear. Shock. Relief. Gratitude. Hope.

'I was right, after all. There is indeed something amiss.'

* * *

Sakura was so shocked that Itachi would say something like that. He said it like he knew something was wrong and that he wanted to know about her predicament. But she was afraid to tell him because Karin would find out that she broke the oath and the 'princess' will bring nothing but danger to Sakura's family and the kingdoms that she cares for. But she couldn't help but feel relieved that he would find out soon enough because she knew that truth cannot be hidden for long and silently thanked him and hoped that he would help her someday. But right now, her thoughts drifted back to the moment where she found herself getting lost in those amazing onyx orbs of the mysterious yet, gorgeous young man. 'No, 'Gorgeous' doesn't fit. 'Charming' is beyond perfect for him. And to say that he's 'Handsome' would be an understatement.' After thinking hard, she then finally searched the word that fit him perfectly and smiled contently. 'He's…Beautiful…' and she found herself turn red at the thought.

* * *

 **So you finally figured out who died in this chapter eh? I'm such a bad person. If you have no clue what I'm talking about, please go back to previous chapter at the ending. I gave a hint on this chapter. But at least you got to see SasuSaku here. Oh and I'm sorry for the late update and I'm sorry if I made Sakura sound like a fan girl. I have to say, this chapter** _ **was**_ **interesting. So if you want more interesting chapters, then…**

 **Read. Review and Enjoy.**

 _ **~Avenger360Blossom**_


	4. The Mystery

**I'm so sorry for the late update. I got caught up with some school stuff so...yeah. Anyways, thank you so much for reviewing my story and adding this to your alerts and favourites list. This really means a lot to me…so here's another chapter and this one is VERY, VERY, VERY interesting. Since this story is fantasy, I decided to make some characters wizards. You will be surprised to know who they are. ;)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the other characters of the story. Oh and I don't own Harry Potter spells either. Some of them are made by me.**

* * *

~Chapter 4: The Mystery~

The next day, despite her predicament, Sakura was off to work as she walked to the training grounds to clean the weapons. She made friends with the maids, the guards and also became friends with the doctor, who healed Sakura's injuries, when Sakura and Karin first arrived in the Kingdom of Fan. Although the doctor, Rin Nohara, was a few years older than Sakura, she and Sakura became very close friends in a very short amount of time and she taught the rosette everything she knew about healing. The doctor was quite impressed at Sakura's diligence that Sakura was offered to become her apprentice which she gladly accepted. But Sakura never told anyone about her identity for fear of Karin, carrying out whatever threat she had planned.

As soon as she entered the training grounds, there was a gathering across the field. Curiously she stalked over to the crowd of guards, maids and also the other Uchihas who were royal subjects of the Kingdom of Fan. She caught sight of her friend/mentor, who was conversing and giggling with a maid, and asked her, "Sensei, what's going on here?"

"Oh Sakura, right on time! They're preparing for the duels. You see, every year, the Uchihas organize a dueling event on every festive occasions, especially when he/she turns twenty. Sometimes they hold it when an Uchiha challenges another, but today is like every other day for a competition." Rin explained. "Come on Sakura, you should join us! I'm sure you'll enjoy it!" She then dragged her towards the people who gathered around the field.

As all the noise and the cheer were replaced with silence, a tall figure stepped out and stood in the middle of the field and started talking. Raven hair, onyx eyes and the Fan symbol on his left sleeve: Sakura confirmed that the man was an Uchiha. "Psst…Sakura. That man who's standing on the platform is Obito Uchiha. He's the Kingdom of Fan's Advisor and one of the best wizards in the village." Rin whispered and sighed happily. This shocked Sakura. The only wizards she heard about were the Hyugas. Sakura looked at her incredulously, "A wizard?"

"Yes, Uchihas are not only skilled in combat and weapons. They are all about sorcery too, like the Hyugas. And this not just any ordinary duel Sakura, this duel...is all about magic." Rin clarified.

"I see…" Sakura mused. 'So that means Prince Itachi is a wizard too and so is his brother…incredible.' But her thoughts were interrupted by Obito. "Well then, everyone. Anyone ready to defeat me?"

The guards and the Uchiha subjects shouted as they raised their hands enthusiastically. "Hmm…who do I choose? Hmm…Itachi, my man! Come on out here." Obito hollered.

The crowd cheered loudly for the older prince. Sakura laughed and clapped her hands. "This should be interesting." Sakura noted.

"I know right! Just wait and see what happens." Rin replied excitedly.

Itachi smirked as he paced towards Obito. Although he won't admit it out loud, he actually liked sparing with Obito, especially in sorcery. 'Hn…I won't lose this time Obito.'

Obito grinned as he and Itachi halted and teased. "Ready to lose like last time, Itachi?"

Itachi scoffed, "Hn. Fat chance."

"Ohoho…I see you're getting too cocky this time. Oh well, looks like I'll have to change that." Obito boasted.

"Like I said, Fat chance."

They took out their wands, immediately raised their wands in front of their face and lowered them again. They bowed slightly and returned to their positions. Sakura watched them carefully; she couldn't help but feel excited. She had to admit that this is the first time she had ever been in a sorcery match. She watched in amazement as how Itachi and Obito poised in their stances, wands pointing at each other.

"Ready, Itachi?" Obito asked.

"I was born ready." Itachi replied firmly.

Obito counted. "One…Two…Three!" Before he could act, Itachi beat him to it.

" _Expelliarmus!"_ Itachi chanted and a vermilion streak of light shot out of his mahogany wand. In a second, Obito yelped and was sent flying backwards and landed on the ground on his rear.

The crowd roared with laughter. Sakura laughed and turned to Rin, "Dear God, That was…amazing, sensei!"

Rin laughed, "I told you this is not just an ordinary duel."

Sakura turned around to glance at Itachi once more, her face still plastered with surprise, wonder and amazement. Apart from her talking horse, she never saw anything so magical in her life. Of course she used to watch Hinata memorize some spells from her spellbook but she never saw her flicking her wand or casting any spell like Itachi did just now. 'I have to say, this was really brilliant. I wonder how Hinata-chan's doing.' She thought.

Itachi smirked with triumph and put his wand in his belt pocket. Obito grudgingly got up, "I can't…believe…you…beat me." Obito huffed.

Itachi, who had a satisfying smirk, said nothing and walked away, followed by some cheers and howls.

Obito then straightened himself and brushed his shoulders, "Alright then...Anyone else?"

Again, there were enthusiastic shouts and raised hands but Obito grinned widely when he saw a certain someone pass by. "Ah, who do we have here? Our new wizard!"

The crowd cheered even more loudly this time. Sakura raised a brow in confusion, Of course, no one noticed it since her face was well hidden. "Sensei, what is Obito-sensei talking about?"

"He's referring to the younger prince. Like I told you before, to take part in duels, you have to be twenty or above. Sure, the younger prince was capable enough even at the age of thirteen, but rules are rules. Prince Itachi was a new wizard five years ago." Rin explained.

Sakura nodded. She tried to see the younger prince but she couldn't since he was hidden among the crowd.

"Come on Sasuke, Don't be shy." Obito teased only to receive laughs from the crowd.

Sasuke glared. He was _not_ shy. He wanted to train and maybe work on his sorcery not grab everyone's attention by participating in some boring dueling event. But the thing about Prince Sasuke Uchiha is that he never backed down from a challenge. Although Obito was lousy and a show off, he was known as one of the great wizards in the kingdom. 'Hn. Bring it on.' he smirked and stepped out of the crowd.

Sakura was, to say the very least, shocked, surprised and amazed when she saw the man who just appeared on the field. She couldn't believe it! It was that man from that day when they first met. 'He is the younger prince? He is Itachi's brother? He is Ni-san's best friend? He is the one...I'm marrying? How could I not notice this? I'm such an imbecile.' Sakura mentally cursed. She glanced at the younger prince who glared at Obito in annoyance. 'So he is Prince Sasuke...fitting name' Sakura thought and blushed at the last part.

Sasuke paced forward and so did Obito until they faced towards each other. They raised their wands at once.

"Are you scared?" Obito mocked.

"You wish..." Sasuke snorted.

"I doubt you would last long."

"Hn. Try me."

They lowered their wands and returned to their positions. When they stopped Obito poised in his stance like he did before and so did Sasuke.

"Ready, Sasuke?"

The said prince nodded.

"One...Two..." Obito counted. The crowd watched the two anxiously. "This is going to be the most epic battle I'll ever see..." Rin muttered so softly that only Sakura could hear her and she agreed.

"THREE! _Everte statum!_ " Obito exclaimed and a flash of golden yellow shot out of his wand.

Sasuke reacted almost instantly by creating a sky blue barrier of light from his wand that protected him from Obito's spell. The crowd was shocked and awed at Sasuke and cheered loudly for him. Sasuke almost sighed in relief and smirked at Obito.

Obito was shocked. "What the? How did you-?" He stopped. 'Strange, he created a shield without even chanting the spell.' He thought.

"Did-Did you see that?" Rin asked incredulously. Sakura said nothing for she was at a loss of words. She was shocked at how Sasuke reacted fast enough to create the barrier; like he expected Obito to use that spell. She observed how alert he was at the beginning of the fight. She stared at Sasuke with a mix of shock, surprise, wonder,awe and amazement. 'That was incredible! He's incredible!' She thought as she glanced at Sasuke with wonder.

"Hn. My turn..." Sasuke chided and flicked his phoenix-red wand towards Obito, " _Carpe Repellus_ _!_ " He mouthed and a pale olive streak of light emerged out of his wand and sent Obito spinning through the air and hit the ground on his behind once again like last time.

Sakura's mouth dropped, 'So it's true, he is strong and fast...and smart too. Just like Prince Itachi...I have to admit that I'm impressed...' Sakura smiled.

Someone shouted from the crowd, "Cannonball!" followed by boisterous laughter.

Sasuke snickered at Obito's form but helped him up nonetheless. Obito laughed, "You got better..."

"Hn. That's what you get for underestimating me." Sasuke replied while he put his wand safely in his belt pocket and retreated from the training grounds.

Obito shook his head at Sasuke's retreat, 'Sasuke, I'm sure you'll become a great king indeed.' He thought.

When everyone started to leave, Obito was about to walk away but he was interrupted by someone. "Obito-san!" A voice called out.

He glanced sideways to see Rin proceeding towards him with a maid in tow. 'That girl, she looks familiar...oh right she's Princess Karin's maid.' He thought as he observed the girl beside the doctor.

"Hey Obito-san! Are you okay?" Rin asked concernedly.

Obito blushed. "I-I'm okay, thanks. And stop using that suffix. It sounds really weird."

"Okay...I won't. At least not in front of you and Sakura. Whoops, Where are my manners? Obito, this is Sakura." Rin introduced her.

"Pleasure to meet you, Obito-san." Sakura bowed gracefully. This surprised Obito, This girl had unusual grace and eloquence, like a princess, and even if he couldn't see her face, she had pretty eyes that sparkled in the sun. But Obito grinned nonetheless, "Hello Sakura, Pleasure to meet you too even if today wasn't my lucky day. Oh, and please, just call me Obito. I really don't like formalities."

Sakura nodded and smiled. "You did your best, Obito-sensei."

Obito laughed heartily, "Did I just hear you right? Rin, she's such a sweet girl! I like her already!"

Sakura giggled. The people in the Kingdom of Fan are really nice and are always cheerful. The Royal Subjects, however are quiet and reserved but they were kind too. 'I'm really starting to like it here!' Sakura thought happily.

"I know right! I don't know why Princess Karin treats her like she's good-for-nothing. It's sad that our Sasuke-kun's marrying her." Rin sighed.

Sakura then remembered Karin's constant reminder of her situation. She almost forgot who she was right now, and the person who would be marrying the prince would be Princess Karin, not Princess Sakura who is currently a mere servant girl. If she ever were to break the oath by telling anyone that _she_ was the real princess, then her mother would be in grave danger. She already lost her only friend, who was her beloved horse. She couldn't bring herself to lose the ones she loved and the kingdoms she cared for either.

"Yeah...Too bad for Sasuke though. Anyways I have to go. It was nice meeting you, Sakura!" Obito smiled and left.

"Yeah, I have to go too. You've got some work to do and so do I. So catch you later!" Rin told her and scurried off.

Sakura sighed. "Time to go to work." She mumbled and went to the weaponry. As she proceeded to clean one of the weapons from the pile, she was lost in her own thoughts. She summed up everything that happened this morning. Then her thoughts went back to the younger prince. She recalled the fight again and it seemed to replay it in her mind. She couldn't stop thinking about him since the day she first laid her eyes on him. In other words, she couldn't help but feel attracted to this man. "I think I'm starting to...develop a small crush on him." she spoke softly. But if Karin knew about this, Sakura would be in trouble. For the past few days, she made sure that reminding Sakura of the threat, was part of her daily schedule. The rosette frowned and suddenly got up, grabbing a newly polished sword and walked out.

* * *

Sasuke inwardly groaned and glared at the hand of the princess that was currently around his arm. 'This Princess Karin is so clingy. Instead of flirting, at least she can do is train…' he thought, annoyed by her despicable attempts in flirting with him. For the past few days, his mother convinced him to get to know the princess. 'And here I am, against my will, strolling in the palace grounds with an annoying fan girl.'

"Princess Karin would you like to go to the gardens?" he asked through gritted teeth. He remembered the first verse of the poem.

 _Dance in the palace gardens,_

 _Beneath Daystar's dazzling gleam;_

 _O' elegant Spring Princess_

 _Of beauty nothing could dim_

'So that would mean that the Princess liked gardens.' But to his surprise, Karin's face scrunched up with disgust. "Why would I want to go to the gardens?"

Sasuke raised a brow, "Do you not like gardens?"

"It's warm outside." She then smiled at him flirtatiously. "I'd rather stay here inside with you."

Sasuke's eye twitched and the princess didn't seem to notice it. 'I'm starting to regret accepting the arrangement in the first place.' Suddenly, he felt her tug his hand and pulled him halfway towards her room until Sasuke stopped in his tracks, forcing the girl stop as well.

"Is something the matter, Prince Sasuke?"

He bit his lip from saying something unpleasant and cleared his throat and said in the most polite way he could muster. "Excuse me but…I need to leave. I promised Itachi we would train today."

Karin frowned for a second, but her playful smile reappeared, "Alright, next time then." She winked at him before leaving.

Sasuke groaned in disgust. 'I've had enough…'

* * *

Sasuke immediately left for the training grounds, briskly walking. He needed to get away from her as far as possible. 'How could that dobe sentence me to such cruelty? The last person I wanted to marry was a fan girl. I hate my life…' He knew that he and Naruto often got into fights and one way or another, one would take revenge on the other if they got the opportunity. But this one is just plain cruelty. An arranged marriage with an annoying princess who only cares about herself and his looks, wealth and fame, treat servants with no respect and flounces around the palace like she owned it; Sasuke sighed. 'It's strange that she's not how the poem describes her to be.'

Once Sasuke arrived at the training grounds, he was relieved that there was no one else except the servant girl who cleans her weapons. But to his surprise, he saw that the girl was twirling with what seemed to be; a light-weight sword in her hand with unusual grace.

Sakura, on the other hand, was too engrossed in her dance that she forgot about everything in her surroundings. She was venting out her emotions through this sword dance since she couldn't tell anyone about her troubles. She knew that she wasn't as graceful as Tenten nor was she smooth like Hinata but she liked to believe that since she loved dancing, maybe she could use this activity to express herself.

With another twirl, she swung her sword round her head, bent her left leg in front of her, and she put her left arm forth and projected her right hand, that held the sword, backwards with right leg stretched behind her. She remained in that position for a few moments to catch her breath.

"Hn...You don't see that everyday." Sasuke, who was watching her for a long time, interrupted which broke her out of her reverie.

Sakura's eyes widened at the sight of the younger prince. She was relieved that the hood was covering her face for the concealment, for a deep blush graced her features at that moment. Sasuke had been watching her the whole time and she felt giddy when he smirked. She couldn't forget what she declared to herself earlier; that she had developed a small crush on him for she felt attracted to him. When Sakura stared into his eyes again, she had to change that thought, 'I'm starting to develop a huge crush on him is more like it.'

"Your Highness! My-My apologies for not noticing your presence. Please pardon me for my impudence in using your armoury as well as the training grounds. I shall be taking my leave now." She bowed and before she could leave she was stopped by his voice.

"Stay."

Sakura turned around; 'Is it just me or was it my imagination?' She thought. She found him picking up one of the long swords. When he glanced back at her to see her questioning look, he spoke firmly, "I do not repeat myself."

Sakura stared for a moment then smiled. She then bounded over to the spot where she was cleaning the weapons and proceeded to work. At times she would sneak glances at the prince. She considered that even though her life became difficult for her, at least she enjoyed moments like these, wherein, she had the chance to watch the prince whom she has been developing feelings for. Sakura was so deep in thought, that once she realized that she had been staring at Sasuke for a long time, he was already looking at her with an amused expression on his face. Sakura gasped. 'He caught me...'

She turned red and immediately went back to her task, feeling very embarrassed that he caught her looking at him.

Sasuke smirked, musing over at her reaction and went back to examining the sword in his hand. Then an idea perked up in his mind. Smirking, he glanced at the servant, 'I wonder...'

"Spar with me." He suddenly spoke.

Her eyes widened when she realized what he said. This time, he was being serious. Then she replied, "Your Highness, I'm...I'm not very proficient with weapons."

"Hn. No need for formalities." He ordered. "It does not matter if you're not good with it. The fact is you're only going to help me train. You'll do just fine."

Sakura's eyes narrowed. 'Tch...Forget crush. How dare he insinuate that I'm weak. It's true that I'm not good with weapons but I never said anything about close combat!' She thought angrily. "Ahem...I do not wish to hurt you...Prince Sasuke. I'm afraid I would be charged for...attempted assassination." She replied, hiding the tone of anger in her voice.

"The keyword being 'attempted'." Sasuke smirked cockily. "Confident in hurting me, are we?"

"Again I do not wish to hurt you. If I do, then I'm simply making sure that I wouldn't get charged of anything if you were to get hurt."

"Really?" Sasuke chided. "Very well then, Have it your way."

Sakura prevented herself from glowering and got to the pile of weapons, "May I use a weapon of my own choice?" She requested, but in response she only received a shrug.

She picked out a pair of brass knuckles. The prince raised a brow at her choice but she just shrugged in perfect imitation of his previous gesture.

"Ready?" He asked.

Sakura nodded in response and got into her fighting stance.

Sasuke pointed his sword towards her. "Begin."

Sakura charged at him and landed an uppercut but Sasuke was quick enough to dodge. He was careful enough to hold back because even though she was a servant, she was a lady as well. It would be a shame if he were to injure a girl, especially someone his mother took interest in. Well if he did, then he would fix it. He isn't a wizard for nothing.

However, despite keeping up his emotionless facade, he was shocked that this girl can actually defend herself in a fight. It seems that she was more skilled in close combat. 'No wonder she chose the brass knuckles.' He mentally noted. 'So the rumours are actually true then. There are women becoming proficient in fighting, nowadays.'

A few moments later, they were both catching their breaths. Well, apparently, Sakura was catching her breath while Sasuke was observing her. He wasn't that exhausted but he was very impressed. She was one of the few people that were able to stand against him even with him using only half of his strength. Only Itachi, Naruto, Obito and his other mentor named Kakashi, who was the Kingdom of Leaf's advisor, were able to get him to be serious. Moreover, to be able to hold your own against Sasuke with him using half of his strength was a already a great feat in itself. To add to that, this girl wasn't even of royalty nor was she a male.

When Sakura glanced at the prince, silently hoping for his approval, he smirked and gave a curt nod in acknowledgement. Sakura grinned and her eyes sparkled with glee, grateful that Sasuke was actually impressed by her strength. 'Kaa-chan's training did pay off after all.' She thought happily.

Sasuke found himself mesmerized by her eyes, like the time when they had their first encounter the previous day. The second part of the poem still crossed his mind. He shook his head, confused as to why he suddenly thought of the poem and stood up but winced when he felt something painful on his left arm. It was a deep gash and blood started flowing out uncontrollably from it. It was the severest wound she had inflicted on him when she fought with those accursed brass knuckles.

Sakura noticed that the prince was injured because of her and her eyes widened. "My God!" Sakura gasped, rushed to the prince and immediately pulled him down by his uninjured arm. "Dear God! I-I-I didn't...I'm so sorry...I really didn't mean to hurt you like that! I'm really sorry for what I've done." She cried out as she examined the wound. "It's deep. We need something to stop the bleeding immediately."

"It's alright. There is no need for that." He said and took out his wand but he winced even more. He didn't have much chakra left. But before he could direct his wand towards his wound, Sakura caught his hand and gave it a slight squeeze.

Sasuke was, to say the very least, startled at her action and glanced at the servant. She gently lowered his hand that held his wand, as if she knew what would happen if he tried to heal it by himself. She let go of his hand and looked for a cloth desperately to bandage the wound. She found a bandage roll that Rin gave her, just in case Sakura needed it and immediately started working on bandaging his wound. But suddenly, her hood was pulled down, no longer concealing her face and her hair. At first she was surprised, but she shrugged it off and busied herself with covering his gash. Her pink locks flew about her face and her rosy lips were set into a frown.

Sasuke's eyes widened slightly. He was stunned at the sudden revelation of the servant girl's appearance. Never had he seen a girl having unsightly features, and since she was covering her face, he didn't expect her to be so unique. 'Unique...yet..beautiful.' He thought. Her rosette hair complemented her porcelain skin perfectly. Even her servant clothes did nothing to hide her beauty. Again the part of the poem replayed in his mind, the first two stanzas matched her perfectly.

 _Dance in the palace gardens,_

 _Beneath Daystar's dazzling gleam;_

 _O' elegant Princess of Spring_

 _Of beauty nothing could dim._

 _~o~_

 _Of vibrant rosy tresses;_

 _Carnations cannot compare._

 _With sparkling eyes of a gem;_

 _An entrancing tint so rare._

Just earlier, she was dancing with a sword so gracefully without caring about the heating glare of the sun. Pink carnations cannot measure up to her vibrant rosy hair. Even her eyes were a rare shade of emerald. Though, not that he would admit it out loud, even though she was dressed in unattractive clothing, her beauty was still obvious.

The uniqueness he was searching from the princess was found in the servant girl instead. 'What is wrong with me?' He thought. He was sure that this girl was different from all the other girls he has met, including the princess, since, just a few moments ago, he didn't miss the anger in her tone when he hinted her that she was weak. She stood up to him like she wasn't a slave at all. Her behaviour was that of someone who will not allow anyone to lower her self respect like that of noble birth. 'Hn. I take it that there's more to this girl than meets the eye.'

When Sakura finished tightening the makeshift bandages, she lowered her head, waiting for his reaction. Sasuke was immediately snapped out of her thoughts and glanced at the bandages then at her. "Thank you." he mumbled.

Sakura unsure what to reply but felt herself blush at the same time as her crush showed his appreciation towards her, even though it was hard for him. She met his onyx eyes and smiled. "You're-You're welcome anytime, Your Majesty."

The moment she smiled, he stood up and briskly walked away from the training grounds. Sakura was confused as she watched his retreating form and disappointed that he had to leave.

She slightly winced as she saw a cut, on her hand. She gasped. 'He wasn't the only one hurt.' She felt Sasuke halt in front of her. She again glanced at him in question. He turned around and pointed his wand at her. This startled Sakura but she followed his gaze and his wand which were pointing at her wound. Her eyes widened and glanced at the prince with surprise.

In response, she received a smirk. " _Auxilio!"_ He chanted. A bright green flash of light shot out of his wand and hit her hand, and the wound disappeared in no time.

Sakura gasped when she saw the cut on her hand vanish and inspected her hand. She didn't even feel pain anymore and even if it was vanished for a few seconds, the energy from that green spark of light really soothed her; much to her amazement. She turned to thank the prince, but to her surprise, he was nowhere to be seen.

"Where did he go?" Sakura asked herself. Then she shook her head and smiled. "He sure is a strange one. Maybe I'll thank him later..."

Then she realized that her head was exposed and immediately covered it with the hood of her cape. She then hurried off to finish her pending work. "I need to finish this as fast as I can." she muttered. If anyone saw her, Karin wouldn't be pleased.

* * *

Itachi was walking down the hallways casually when he caught sight of his brother walking swiftly towards the direction of his room. He deduced that his younger brother came from the training grounds by looking at his slightly unruly and sweaty state. He also noticed that Sasuke sported a bandaged wound on his left arm. Itachi raised a brow at this. 'Didn't he always use the healing spell everytime he gets hurt?' But one thing that made Itachi even more curious is that his brother seemed to be determined to let his bangs cover his face.

"Oi, Otouto _,_ where have you been?" Itachi called out.

Sasuke turned to his brother only for a few seconds, instantly moved away to the direction he was heading to and walked more swiftly to get away from his brother's inquisitive eyes.

"Hn. Training grounds." He muttered. "And before you ask, I was training. _Alone_." He emphasized on the last word and walked off.

Itachi smirked, amused at his brother's strange behaviour. And also, he took a glimpse at the reason he was covering his face even if it was for a few seconds. He made up his mind to find out why Sasuke's face looked that way.

As a big brother, he had the right to know about significant details about his beloved little brother's life. So he needed to know what made Sasuke react that way.

He needed to know why...Sasuke's usually pale cheeks were tinted pink.

* * *

Sakura cleaned the remaining weapons as fast as she could since she still had to attend to Queen Mikoto. Not that she was complaining, the beautiful queen had a very kind heart and was also a rather conversational spirit. She was so occupied with her work that she didn't realize that her head was exposed once again and that someone was watching her. However, when she was about to take her leave, a deep voice stopped her.

"Hmm...I see so that's why. Hmm...Not bad...not bad at all. He chose well." Itachi muttered as he examined Sakura from head-to-toe. 'So Otouto isn't gay after all. It seems that he has a very particular taste.' Itachi thought as his gaze lingered on her unusual hair and eyes. 'Very particular...'

Sakura's brow lifted in confusion at the prince's cryptic words. "Hello again, Prince Itachi." She smiled and bowed. "How may I help you?"

"Hello again indeed, please rise." Itachi spoke politely. Sakura obliged.

"Well, there is nothing much...I'd like to know if my little brother came here by any chance. And was he training alone?"

Sakura inwardly gasped, 'Oh no, if he knew that I was sparring with Prince Sasuke, and that I was the one who injured him, then I would be in trouble.' So she replied, "Yes, Your Majesty. He left a while ago. And I believe he was training alone too." She mentally regretted lying to the older prince but she had to. 'Well, there you go. Part truth, part lie.'

Itachi raised a brow at her answer, 'Okay, there must be something going on between these two. Why on earth is _she_ blushing? ' He thought curiously as he saw her struggling to fight the red blush creeping onto her face.

"I apologize for asking this just now, but would you tell me your name?"

Taken aback and somewhat puzzled by his sudden question, she weakly answered, "Sakura, Your Highness."

"Ah, fitting name for a beauty such as yours." He complemented which made the girl blush. "However, I could not help but believe that you are withholding very...vital information."

The rosette stood rigid and looked at the prince with wide eyes, further confirming that he was indeed right.

"I do not wish to hurt you with whatever it is but I think it is best to talk to someone about it. I am simply offering to be a listener." Itachi proposed seriously.

For a second, hope appeared in Sakura's eyes but it vanished quickly. She looked into his eyes begging him not to ask anymore. 'I wish I could tell you but I'm under an oath. Karin will ruin my life even more and my mother will be in danger if I broke it. I'm sorry, please no more.' She thought dreadfully. She did want to tell him about what she's going through, since she believed that Itachi was indeed smart and intelligent and would be kind enough to help her out. But if it wasn't for the oath, she wouldn't have hesitated to reveal her secret.

Itachi frowned. Seeing that he can read people very well, he knew exactly what her expression meant. It was obvious that she wanted to tell him - or someone - about whatever she was hiding. In spite of this, it was quite obvious that something was holding her back, preventing her from talking about it. He sighed. "I apologize for my sudden bluntness. I will take my leave now." When he turned to leave, he replied again, "But if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask for my help." He resolved to find out about her mystery. 'Starting tomorrow...' He mentally noted.

Sakura heaved a sigh. She felt really awkward and fidgeted whenever Itachi spoke to her. She was glad that she was pulled out of the tension in no time. Nevertheless, she felt grateful that Itachi offered to help.

"Thank you, Prince Itachi..." Sakura muttered and smiled, unsure that the prince heard her or not.

* * *

 **Ah...Finally...Another chapter has come to an end. I spent a lot of effort working on this and the chapter turned out longer. Oh well, at least I made it. So what do you think? The magic spells are taken from Harry Potter and some of them are made by me. I took the help from google translate and the HP spell list. Guess what? They're all Latin...**

 _ **Expelliarmus! -**_ **Disarms the opponent.**

 _ **Everte Statum!**_ **\- Stuns the opponent and sends him flying.**

 _ **Carpe Repellus! -**_ **pushes** **the opponent with full force.**

 _ **Auxilio! -**_ **Heals minor but deep injuries.**

 **And that's it. Now all I need is your feedback. I've worked really hard for this so three words...**

 **Read. Review. Enjoy. ^_^**

 ** _~Avenger360Blossom_**


	5. The Order

**Hey everyone! A very happy new year to all of you guys! I am soooo...SORRY that I almost forgot that I actually have to update my story...a thousand apologies to everyone. I got caught up with lots of schoolwork and exams. I really didn't have time to finish as well, so yeah...don't worry I'm back now and chapter 5 is up. Let's just fluff things up a bit between our favourite princess and our prince, shall we?**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any other characters of the story.**

* * *

~Chapter 5: The Order~

Another week has passed with Karin flouncing around the palace as if she owned it. Itachi is still investigating about the servant but to no avail. Fugaku has taken to ignoring his future daughter-in-law's constant chattering while Mikoto is trying to get to know the princess.

During that week, Sasuke however, had been constantly excusing himself from any meeting with Princess Karin to train. Of course no one questioned his decisions. In fact, his sudden interest in growing stronger made Fugaku so happy that he ordered everyone not to interrupt his son's training. However, little did anyone know - except, perhaps for prince Itachi - was that Sasuke never trained alone. There was always a certain someone who kept him company.

"Prince Sasuke..." Sakura panted and plopped down unceremoniously on the field. She made a grab on the hood that covered her face but since it was from her reach, she gave up. Besides, since the day she revealed her face to the Prince, she was allowed to take off her hood when it was just the two of them alone.

"Must I...always be your training partner?" Sakura asked between deep breaths.

Sasuke smirked as he sheathed his sword and walked up to her and also sat down on the ground. "Do you see anyone else around here?"

"But you could easily ask Prince Itachi to train with you. Why me?" She questioned.

"Hn. I have my reasons, Sakura." Sasuke replied still smirking.

Although Sakura pouted adorably, the way the prince uttered her name made her blush and her heart beat faster.

"Oh and..." Sasuke's smirk turned into a frown. "Don't call me Prince Sasuke. I told you no need for formalities." After Sasuke was told her name by Itachi, Sasuke has taken to call her with it since calling her a 'servant' or a 'maid' seemed unpleasant to him. At first he addressed her as 'Miss Sakura' or 'Sakura-san' since referring to her in a familiar manner didn't appear right. However, since it sounded too odd for her liking, the girl insisted him in calling her without using any honourifics or titles. In return, Sasuke ordered her to drop the formalities and call him by his name. She tried but the least formal she could say was 'Sasuke-san'.

"Oh...right. S-Sasuke-san." She replied timidly stammering a bit when she uttered his name.

After a few moments of silence, Sasuke suddenly got up to his feet and extended his hand to Sakura. "Let's go."

A dumbfounded expression came to the girl's face as she stared at his hand then back at Sasuke. "Um...may I ask where...?"

"Hn..." He grunted and grabbed her hand, pulling her up and started to lead her somewhere.

"H-Hey!" The rosette yelped, startled by his sudden action, but didn't yank her hand away from his. "Sasuke-san, w-wait!"

"Just follow."

"But the weapons-"

"Leave them be."

"But what if I get in trouble?"

"I'll take care of it."

"B-But-"

Sasuke rolled his eyes and turned to the weapons, with Sakura's hand still in his firm grip. He took out his wand from his belt pocket and swished it towards the weapons. A flash of green light emanated from his wand and the weapons were polished at an instant. " _Pack_." Sasuke said and the polished weapons were all neatly lined in the shelves, the walls and even placed in the chests.

Sakura too dumbfounded to speak stared at the weapons that were instantly cleaned and neatly placed, courtesy to the raven haired prince who placed his wand back in his pocket again.

"Sakura..."

She slowly turned her head towards him.

"You're annoying." He said and turned to look at her.

Sakura was about to frown at his statement but the sight of the smirk on the prince's features made her turn as red as a tomato and her heart skip a beat.

He led her away from the training grounds towards the direction of the forest. Seeing this, Sakura's eyes widened with alarm and her steps began to falter. 'It's really quiet in here.' She thought feeling tensed. Noticing her hesitation, Sasuke gripped her hand tighter to assure her that he won't lead her to harm. This calmed her nerves slightly.

They entered the forest and walked straight ahead. Sakura gripped the prince's hand tighter, momentarily forgetting that he was someone of royalty. For now she was just nervous to be in this place.

"S-Sasuke-san, w-where are we going?"

"You'll see..."

Soon after five minutes of walking, when they exited the dense forest, Sakura gasped in wonder. What met their sight was a breathtaking world of flora.

A vast expanse of beautiful flowers of different varieties that decorated the field; from sunflowers to daisies to chrysanthemums, Sakura was amazed at the beauty of it. There were many trees, rose bushes and fruit orchards that surrounded a beautiful lake that had a bridge over it; plum blossoms, wisteria and, to Sakura's delight, cherry blossoms.

Without wasting any time, the rosette shot to the middle of the field and twirled around, laughing as petals danced around her with the breeze. This place reminded her of her home.

Sasuke watched her with a smirk gracing his lips. She was so entrancing to watch that he couldn't bring himself to look away from her. He felt like he was looking at a flower arrangement with the blossoms as the ornaments and Sakura as the center-piece. The flora enhanced her splendor; like a fairy in her element.

He watched while she ran towards the row of cherry blossoms and held her hands out to catch the some of the falling petals. Her actions made remember the poem again, but this time, he saw the perfect epitome of the poem in front of him.

 _Dance in the palace gardens,_

 _Beneath Daystar's dazzling gleam;_

 _O' elegant Princess of Spring_

 _Of beauty nothing could dim_

 _~O~_

 _Of vibrant rosy tresses;_

 _Carnations cannot compare._

 _With sparkling eyes of a gem;_

 _An entrancing tint so rare._

 _~O~_

 _Of fragrant blossoms scented,_

 _Waltzing in the gentle breeze,_

 _Loveliest amidst a flower bed_

 _O' nymph of the cherry trees._

Sasuke's eyes widened slightly in deep thought. 'That poem...it seems like the person described is not Karin, but Sakura instead...' He frowned. 'This doesn't make any sense. Unless...' He thought deeply, 'If Sakura _is_ the princess...wait what?'

He shook his head surprised at his deduction. But then again, preferring company of a girl with a very low status didn't make sense to him as well. Before Sasuke could ponder any longer, Sakura appeared in front of him, smiling the most genuine smile he had ever seen on her lips.

"These flowers are so beautiful, Sasuke-san! What is this place?"

"This is my mother's garden. Only a number of people know of this place."

"A-Am I allowed to be here?" Sakura asked, a little worried.

"Hn. I brought you here, didn't I?" Sasuke snorted.

Sakura smiled brightly, "I...I'm honoured, this is amazing!"

"Then you are free to visit here any time."

"For real?" Sakura asked, eyes sparkling with delight. Sasuke smirked and nodded in assent. "Thank you!" She exclaimed and hugged him, forgetting who he really was. Sasuke who was startled by her sudden action, just stood there, his eyes widened in surprise, but nevertheless, let her hug him. After a few moments, Sakura seemed to realize who the person was and immediately let go of him. She faced the ground, blushing profusely.

"I-I'm sorry...I...um...didn't mean to...uh." She stammered. 'Now I am starting to understand how Hinata-chan feels around Ni-san.' She thought nervously.

"It's fine." He reassured, smirking amusedly at her. He was about to say something when someone arrived into the garden.

"Prince Sasuke! I wasn't informed that the youthful prince would come today!" A boy of their age exclaimed. Sakura looked past Sasuke's shoulder to see him. This also gave the boy a glimpse of the pink haired girl. Instantly, hearts appeared in the boy's eyes and dashed towards Sakura, took her hand and kissed it, much to her discomfort.

"Hello lovely and youthful maiden, my name is Rock Lee. May I know the name of this beautiful woman?" He flashed a toothy smile.

"S-Sakura." She stuttered out and gave a quick glance at Sasuke who tried hard not to smirk at their interaction which in turn, made her blush and look away in embarrassment.

"Ah, such a beautiful name for someone as beautiful and youthful as you. Sakura-san, I will protect you with my life. Will you be my girlfriend?" Lee asked.

The sudden question caught Sakura by surprise. Although she was slightly disturbed by his haircut and his, dare she say it, gigantic eyebrows...he seemed nice and friendly to her. 'But I already like someone else...'

"Um...Lee-san...that is very sweet and kind of you but...I can't. I hope you understand." She politely refused.

Before Lee had the chance to say anything, Sasuke interrupted coldly, "Sakura, I think we've been out here long enough. We will take our leave now." With that being said, he grabbed her hand and led her towards the direction of the training grounds.

"Sasuke-san, who was that man?" Sakura asked.

"The care-taker of the garden." He replied bluntly.

"He seems nice."

"Whatever."

At the coldness of his tone, Sakura decided to keep quiet; pondering over whatever reason he had for suddenly becoming stoic.

When they arrived at the training grounds, Sasuke let go of her wrist and started to walk away. However, he stopped as his eyes softened for a moment. "I meant what I said." He spoke without giving a glance at her.

"Pardon?"

"You may go to that garden whenever you like, and stay as long as you want." With that, he left her staring at his retreating back.

Sakura smiled genuinely and whispered. "Thank you..."

* * *

Sasuke walked into his room quickly and flopped down on his bed, not even bothering to close the door. He really needed to think and as much as it was a bit...alarming to him, all he could think about was Sakura. He still wondered how the poem depicted her perfectly and how he almost concluded that she was a princess herself. Anyone would shrug that thought off but for Prince Sasuke, it was a possibility. He remembered Itachi telling him that there was something amiss about her and now he believed that his elder brother was right.

"Had a nice day, little brother?" Itachi asked from his position in the doorway.

'Speak of the devil...' Sasuke thought sulkily. "What do you want, Itachi?"

Itachi raised a brow. He entered the room and made sure to close the door then sat down on a nearby chair in front of Sasuke. "Mind telling me what happened?"

"None of your business."

"Oh, something did happen." The older prince teased. "Do tell."

"Do I have to repeat myself?" Sasuke hissed.

Itachi sighed. "I see you don't trust your own brother, eh? Maybe I'll ask Princess Karin to talk to you. That way, you'll trust her even more." He inwardly smirked when Sasuke flinched at the mention of Karin. "I'm sure she'll be delighted to listen to your problems." He said, as if it was the best idea at the moment. So he moved to stand up and move to the door but Sasuke stopped him.

"You just _love_ to torture me, don't you?"

"I do sometimes." Itachi mused. "No wait, most of the time."

"I hate you."

Itachi smirked and went back to the chair he was previously sitting on while Sasuke sat up on his bed and faced him. He told the story as stoically as possible but Itachi could tell he was clearly annoyed; especially when Lee arrived at the garden. When he finished, Itachi snickered.

"What's so funny?" Sasuke snapped.

"You were jealous."

"Tch. Preposterous."

"You like the servant girl, don't you?"

"Like I said, preposterous."

"If you say so…but if you do, bear in mind that you already have a fiancé and that is Princess Karin." Itachi replied.

Sasuke glared at his brother before lying down on the bed before facing the opposite direction. "Whatever."

Itachi stared at his brother's form before leaving. 'So he didn't actually contradict. But he didn't confirm it either…' He shook his head and smirked. 'Foolish little brother…'

"Oh yeah, I heard King Naruto is coming over to visit tomorrow." He informed and left.

Sasuke turned around to look at his brother's retreating back. "Naruto, huh?"

* * *

"King Naruto is visiting tomorrow?" Karin asked the maid that waited on her.

"Yes, Princess Karin." The maid replied.

"I see...quick! Go get the servant I brought with me when I arrived here."

"Yes, milady." The maid bowed quickly and scurried out of the room.

The moment she was left alone, Karin grabbed a pillow and threw it at the wall in anger. 'He's going to ruin my plans! I need to make sure that it doesn't happen...' She thought while glaring at the wall. 'No matter what happens... _I_ will marry Prince Sasuke. Neither that King, nor that _wretch_ will ever stop me!'

Minutes passed and a soft knocking on the door snapped Karin out of her reverie. "Come in." She said sweetly.

Sakura came in with her white hooded cloth covering her face again. Karin smirked. "Lock the door." She ordered to which Sakura complied.

"So Sakura, you still remember the deal we made in the forest, right?"

The said girl's emerald eyes flashed with anger but nodded nonetheless.

"Good. I heard that King Naruto of the Kingdom of Leaf is coming over to visit tomorrow." Sakura's eyes lightened up at that. However, Karin's next words made her lose all hope.

"That deal applies to your brother as well. If he ever finds out about the deal, I'll make sure the queen gets it and I'll kill you myself as well. I want you to make sure he keeps his mouth shut, understood?"

Sakura gritted her teeth and answered, "Yes...milady."

Karin smiled menacingly. "Good girl. You will accompany me tomorrow as my temporary personal maid when we greet King Naruto. Dismissed."

Sakura nodded and hurried out of the room back to where the servants were. One of the servants, the one who was previously with Karin asked her, "Did she make you do ridiculous chores; like massaging her feet and all?"

"Somewhat like that." Sakura replied and put on a forced smile though it wasn't seen because of her hood.

"Are you alright? You seem forlorn." She pointed out since she saw her emerald eyes glisten.

"I'll be alright, thank you for your concern, Karyu." Sakura replied fighting the urge not to cry in front of her.

The maid laughed. "That's not my name. My name is Karui."

Hearing this, Sakura laughed, forgetting her pain at the moment and apologized.

"No, that's okay. I told Princess Karin my name several times and she keeps forgetting it." She replied. "I heard that the Princess of the Kingdom of Spring is a nice girl but I guess it's just a rumour."

Sakura was now crestfallen once again.

"If she ever becomes the Queen here, I'm quitting my job." Karui sulked.

"Me too...Princess Karin is pretty but she doesn't seem to fit with Prince Sasuke at all. Her attitude is annoys me, and she orders everyone as if the palace is her own. Not even King Fugaku treats us like that!" Another maid exclaimed.

"Let's just leave her be." Sakura suggested. "Their marriage is not final yet after all. Maybe a miracle might happen." She said just to assure herself more than anything else.

"I guess you're right."

* * *

 **There, all done! Again I'm so sorry for the late update. And thank you for the reviews you've sent me. Now I want to know what do you think about the latest chapter. Oh and did you guys already watched the new Sasuke shinden episodes? Oh my God, Sasuke is totally badass and I'm glad he became good in the end. Anyways, hopefully I'll be able to update new chapters and write more stories since my exams are over. Finally, I just wanna say...  
**

 **Read. Review. Enjoy and a happy new year.**

 **~ _Avenger360Blossom_**


	6. The Pain

**Hey guys! I'm back again with another chapter. I'm really sorry again for my late update because I was caught up with shitty assignments and exams, so I kinda got lost.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the other characters in the story. Can you believe it? The Naruto series is freaking over! :,(**

* * *

~Chapter 6: The Pain~

"Oi Teme!" Naruto yelled as soon as he caught sight of his raven-haired best friend. He had just entered the palace gates where Sasuke came to greet him.

"Dobe." Sasuke nodded in acknowledgement.

Naruto turned to the guards who were escorting him and grinned. "Thank you, I'll take it from here. You may leave now." The guards bowed in consent and left to their posts.

As they headed to the throne room, Naruto started to question Sasuke about the Princess.

"So Teme, what do you think of her, eh?" Naruto asked while nudging his best friend.

A vein popped on Sasuke's forehead in annoyance and bopped the blonde's head which elicited a yelp from him.

"Oww! TEME! What the heck was that for!?"

"For being a brain-dead moron." Sasuke muttered in annoyance. "You said she wasn't a fangirl."

"She isn't!" Naruto protested. "She didn't even know how you looked like before she came here."

"Well it seemed that she did." Sasuke replied bluntly. "Why her, Dobe?"

"She's a respectable lady and a very pretty one at that. She's responsible and would do anything to protect everything she values and the people she loves. She always shows grattitude to people and is very kind at heart. She has a passion for dancing and she can kick anyone's butt in no time." He sighed. "For the love of ramen, didn't you read the rest of the letter after I informed you about her arrival? I'm pretty sure I included a piece of poetry at the end of the letter too."

"Hn. When she first arrived, all she did was boss servants around."

Naruto's jaw dropped as his eyes went large as saucers.

"What!? That's impossible! She would never do such a thing. She's friends with every single servant back in the Kingdom of Spring." He exclaimed, clearly scandalised by Sasuke's statement.

The dark-haired prince raised a brow in question. "She's not your past lover or anything, is she?"

Naruto's face contorted in disgust. "Oh heck no, that's just sick! It's like having a relationship with a sibling."

"So you see her as a sister."

Naruto grinned in response. He's been anticipating the day he would tell Sasuke about his real relationship with the princess. 'Hehe...The look on his face would be priceless when he finds out we'll be future brother-in-laws.' He thought, grinning madly on the inside.

However, before he could say anything else, they arrived at the throne room as the large doors were opened and Naruto soon took on his formal side.

"The King of the Kingdom of Leaf has arrived with our prince, Your Majesty." The squire announced and bowed before moving away.

Naruto bowed in front of the elder sovereign and greeted him while Fugaku nodded for him to rise. The young king looked around to see the queen beaming at him and he smiled back before continuing to observe his surroundings. He noticed the elder prince by his father's side and acknowledged each other with a nod.

Itachi decided to observe this meeting. He heard that Princess Karin asked Sakura to be her personal maid for now and Itachi found it strange and suspicious. 'Perhaps I could gather some information from here.'

"King Naruto, your visit to our Kingdom came at a convenient time. I would like to discuss your choice of bride for my son."

Naruto smiled. "Very well, I would like to know about your opinion of her."

Fugaku frowned. "She roams the palace like it was her own. The terrible part is there have been several complaints from some of our loyal servants about her misbehavior. We were assured that you would choose someone suitable for Sasuke since you are his trusted comrade...It seems we were wrong."

Naruto frowned at this. He didn't believe it when Sasuke told him but hearing it from Fugaku was a different story.

"With due respect, Your Majesty, I find it hard to believe that she would do such things. She would never be so self-centered to use her position to do such actions."

Before Fugaku could reply, the arrival of the princess was announced.

"The Princess of the Kingdom of Spring, Your Majesty." The squire, who announced Naruto's arrival, informed.

The moment Karin entered the room, Sasuke felt Naruto freeze behind him. The younger prince glanced at his best friend and noticed his sudden expression change from anticipation to utter shock and then slowly followed by anger. Moreover, when he noticed Sakura following right behind Karin, Sasuke could've sworn he heard Naruto growl.

Despite Sakura's face being hidden by the hood of her clothes, Naruto was able to recognise her unique eyes immediately, that looked downcast. His gaze shifted from Sakura to Karin and the back at Sakura again.

"Princess Karin, how nice of you to join us." Fugaku greeted.

"Princess...?" Naruto mouthed so quietly that only Sasuke could hear him. This made him raise a brow. 'Didn't Naruto just say he and the princess are like siblings? What's with his reaction now?'

Karin stared at Naruto and smiled in a knowing way. Her smile might look pleasant to anyone but to Naruto and Sakura it was a something else. Something sinister. "King Naruto! It has been a while!"

'Something is not right here...' Sasuke thought and eyed Karin suspiciously.

'Something is definitely not right here...not right at all!' Naruto thought simultaneously and glared intensely at Karin. He was about demand what was going on until his eyes fell upon Sakura. Her eyes were pleading for him not to say a word. He wanted to protest but he couldn't ignore the imploring look his sister sent him, so he kept silent. As her brother he knew what she was asking for; she asking him to play along. Grudgingly, he forced a smile on his face. "Yes, it has! It is nice to see you again, Princess Karin. How is your stay here?"

Karin smirked inwardly. "Fine, they have been treating me quite well."

Naruto had to press his lips together to prevent his recentful thoughts from being lashed out. 'Probably too well for your liking you _fraud!'_

"I see." Naruto said ina forced tone that only Sakura and Sasuke, the ones in the room who knew him best were able to recognise.

"Well, it was nice seeing you again. I think I need to rest." He reasoned so that he could get out of here as soon as possible. 'I don't know if I can keep up this act any longer.'

Mikoto stared at him worryingly, "Are you alright Naru-chan?" Naruto smiled. Sasuke's mother was one of the nicest woman he has ever met who treated Naruto like his own son and he really appreciated it.

"Thank you for your concern, Queen Mikoto. It's just that there were so many affairs to attend to that I haven't slept well for days. I planned to visit last week but I had to attend those issues first." He said wearily. It was true but he wanted to get out of here and find out about what happened to Sakura.

Fugaku's eyes softened a little. He didn't admit it but he respected the young king to some extent for handling the sudden responsibilities of a ruler at a young age while most of them were just too foolish enough to lead their kingdoms properly. Naruto, on the other hand, was one of the few young kings to handle all the roles of a leader very well. This is the reason why, though he never expresses it, he has high hopes for his younger son who is of the same age as Naruto.

"Your room is ready. We shall discuss other matters another time."

Naruto grinned at the king gratefully. "Thank you very much, Your Majesty. I am sure that when we see each other again, we shall discuss about political matters in a better manner once I feel completely rejuvenated. Believe it."

"Let's go, Dobe." Sasuke said as he led Naruto out.

Karin bowed to the king. "Your Majesty, I shall be taking my leave as well."

Fugaku dismissed her with a nod.

* * *

Naruto and Sasuke were heading to Naruto's usual room when Naruto suddenly stopped and moved to head towards another direction.

"Where are you going?" Sasuke asked.

"To the bathroom. I gotta _go..."_ Naruto grinned idiotically as he clearly emphasised at the last part.

"Whatever, I'm heading to the training grounds."

"I'll see you later, Teme."

"Aa." Sasuke grunted and raised his hand in acknowledgement.

When Sasuke was out of sight, Naruto's grin disappeared. Though it happens rarely, he can act convincingly, if he wanted to. He knew very well that when he resorted to this, the only ones who could tell he was acting were Sakura, Tsunade and his wife, Hinata. No one, not even his best friend would be able to tell the difference.

'Sorry for lying Sasuke, but I need to find out what exactly is happening to my sister. Right now, she needs me more than anything.' He thought before dashing his way through the halls of the palace.

* * *

"You did very well. I thought I would be sending orders for an assassination tonight." Karin mused before chuckling maliciously.

Sakura gritted her teeth to prevent herself from saying anything nasty and just glared at tbe ground.

They were in a deserted hallway and Karin was revelling the fact that she was still in an advantage. "If you keep up this act any longer then you and the Queen will stay alive." Then Karin's eyes narrowed dangerously at Sakura. "Remember, you hold your tongue, I keep my position, your mother will be safe. _Is that clear?_ "

"Yes...Princess Karin..." Sakura replied forcefully, hating each and every word she had just said.

"Oh, and it's better if you never approach him. Stay away from King Naruto as much as possible."

Sakura's eyes widened as her heart shattered at her cruel words. She couldn't possibly stay away from her beloved brother, especially when she finally got the chance to see him again after a very long time.

Nevertheless, she had no choice but to nod in response. "Yes...Princess Karin..." Sakura muttered.

" _Good girl._.." Karin smirked. "You're dismissed."

Both girls headed towards different directions. Karin walked towards her room, smirking. 'Now, no one is ever going to stop me from marrying Prince Sasuke. Soon he will be _mine_!" She thought as she slammed the door shut, once she got inside her room.

Sakura, on the other hand, walked towards the direction opposite to where Karin went. Tears threatened to fall from her beautiful emerald eyes. She couldn't hold them back any longer. The fact that she was ordered to stay away from her brother was too much for her to bear that it broke her heart.

Soon she found herself running, not caring where she ran and never stopped...

Her hood that covered her face lifted off from her head, revealing her pink hair and her face, glistening with tears falling from her eyes. To her advantage, there wasn't anyone who would notice her unique features as she ran past the dark empty corridors. She needed to vent out her anger, her grief and her pain that was holding back for so long that tore her from the inside-out.

Little did she know that there was someone by the corner who heard every single word of the conversation and watched Sakura dejectedly as she ran and turn around a corner and out of his sight. ' _Imouto_...'

* * *

Sasuke left the training grounds, refreshed to have been able to train. The moment he left, Sakura ran into the training grounds and sat on the floor infront of the bench where she cleaned her weapons. Seeing that she was alone, she folded her arms on the bench, dug her head down into them and cried her heart out. Her shoulders shook with distress as she sobbed harder. She thought it would be pathetic for anyone to see her cry like this. Especially Prince Sasuke.

If not for the fact that her mother, Queen Tsunade's life wasn't endangered than Karin would've been easily rid off. Right now, the only thing she needed was to have her brother by her side more than anything. Even if it was forbidden by Karin.

As if hearing her prayers, a pair of strong arms encircled her waist and Sakura felt some warmth radiating on her back. Sakura stiffened as her sobbing ceased. 'Could it be...?' She thought hopefully but the familiar scent calmed her down. Wanting to confirm that it was indeed who it is, Sakura turned around to find a beautiful pair of cerulean orbs, staring down at her with worry. Tears welled up in her eyes, not in grief, but in relief.

Naruto gazed at her sister and berated himself for not coming sooner. It hurt him so much to see his sister so broken like this as her face said it all. Her face were moist with tears and her eyes were bloodshot from crying. He gently wiped those tears away since he couldn't see her like this anymore. It made him feel like he failed her.

He hugged her tightly, assuring her that he was there. She reacted instinctively and buried her face into his chest and sobbed.

"Shh...I'm here now, _Imouto_ , I'm here now. Everything's going to be fine. Shh...It's okay." He consoled her while rubbing circles on her back.

" _Ni-Ni-san_...I-I... _Ni-san_..." She choked out the words as she sobbed.

His shirt wrinkled in Sakura's tightening grip as she still kept her face buried into his chest.

Naruto stroked her soft, pink hair. "I know." He suddenly blurted out. "I know what's happening."

Sakura's eyes widened as she pulled back slightly. "You mean..." She trailed and Naruto nodded in response. "B-But how?"

"I heard everything when the two of you talked to each other in the hallway." He said and then gritted his teeth. "I won't allow you to live like like this. I can't and I won't let you face this alone. You're Princess Sakura, the Real Princess of the Kingdom of Spring. You're my sister, the daughter of two great rulers ever existed. You fulfilled your duties fervently and never used your position for selfish gain. And _you_ are the one who will be marrying Prince Sasuke of the Kingdom of Fan. You don't deserve this, _Imouto_ , this is entirely my fault."

Sakura shook her head. "No it isn't." She said softly. "It isn't your fault. Don't blame yourself for anything...you're here now, _Ni-san,_ that's all it matters." She said in a tone that seemed to reassure herself more than anything.

Naruto understood that tone and smiled. "Yes, I'm here now. Everything will be alright. I promise, I won't let anyone hurt you. Believe it." He replied with a kiss on her forehead.

Sakura thanked him genuinely, agreeing with his statement. She was really happy to see her brother back. She missed him a lot ever since the day she left the Kingdom of Spring, her home.

* * *

Sasuke had just reached his door when he remembered leaving his coat in the training grounds, where his key was in the coat pocket. He seethed and marched back towards the training grounds. If only Princess Karin wasn't here, he wouldn't have to lock himself up in his room. He learned from one time that it was unsafe to keep his room unlocked with that girl around. She was able to slip into his room once and had tried to seduce him. Sasuke shuddered at the memory. He felt like he wasn't even safe in his own palace where he was born, anymore.

However, the moment he stepped foot onto the training fields, Sasuke forgot what he was thinking of. He felt his heart drop at the scene that met his sight.

There, in the training grounds was Sakura in the arms of his best friend. Sasuke didn't know why but he felt his teeth gritting together while his hand made its way to his chest. There was a sinking feeling inside his heart and he was getting sick of it. He didn't know what he felt and why he felt it but he didn't want this foreign feeling get to him. It felt even worse when he witnessed Naruto kiss the rosette's forehead with her, giggling in response.

He refused to feel this way, he wasn't supposed to let any foreign feeling get to him. In fact, he never loses control over his emotions... _ever._ He looked away, letting his bangs fall over his eyes, and told himself that it was nothing; that it wasn't any of his business if Sakura hugged Naruto.

But the more he tried to convince himself, the tighter his hand clenched the fabric of his shirt.

Soon, he found himself turning around and walk away rapidly which almost turned into a run.

He shouldn't care at all.

'But why...? Why does it...hurt so much?'

* * *

"By the way, I wanna hear _all_ details about your stay in the Kingdom of Fan...I'm sure you've made a lot of friends!" Naruto cheered as he pulled back from the embrace and then gagged, "Besides, 'Princess' Karin..."

Sakura laughed at his antics and smiled a real smile after wiping her tears. "Yes, I have. I will tell you _everything_." She made sure to tell him everything about King Fugaku and Queen Mikoto, Rin-sensei and Obito-sensei, other maids and knights that she made friends with, Prince Itachi and other royal subjects of the Kingdom of Fan.

"Oh, and _Imouto_?"

Sakura was snapped out from her reverie. "Yes, _Ni-san_?"

Naruto grinned cheekily and then raised his finger. "Don't forget to add more details on the Teme." He teased in a sing-song voice.

Sakura was confused. "Who?"

"Oh, uh sorry, my bad...Prince Sasuke."

This caused the said girl to tense up and blush in several shades of red. "Eh...EHHH!?"

* * *

Sasuke walked towards the direction of his room with his coat hanging limply in his hand. He found it lying beside a tree where he rested earlier after training, the same tree where he hid behind when he saw Naruto and Sakura. He trudged slowly with every step, his bangs shadowing his eyes. When he reached his room, he took the key from his coat pocket and opened the door of his room. He was about to enter until he saw a shadow loom over the floor. His eyes slowly turned to the figure who appeared to be Karin. He prepared to slam his door shut but she did not seem to notice the prince and walked in another direction cautiously before seeing that no one was there.

Sasuke raised a brow in suspicion. 'What is she doing? And why do I have a terrible feeling about this?' Sasuke disliked the idea of stalking people but he couldn't possibly ignore the strange, hostile aura when she walked, without looking his direction. In the end, Sasuke decided to follow her trail, not before leaving the door closed, but unlocked, and he was careful enough to take his key with him.

" _Obscuro_ _!"_ He whispered and soon he was cloaked with faint glow, making him invisible.

Karin seemed unaware of Sasuke's presence nor did she seem to sense it, as expected. He made sure not to make any sound and not to get distracted. As she turned from one dark corner to another, Sasuke grew even more suspicious. He was then led to a deserted hallway with only a little amount of light but enough for him to see.

Sasuke then decided to hide in a corner and watched as Karin wait until a dark figure, in black clothes appeared out of the dark.

His face was hidden under a black hood, his gigantic arms showed some skin which had black markings on it, his eyes were eerie shade of purple when he stepped into the light and he carried a giant sword behind his back. Sasuke's eyes narrowed dangerously, his suspicions about Karin were right after all. But he needed to know what they were planning. He'd been eavesdropping a lot today but he felt that, at this rate, it was necessary because his kingdom, his family, his friends might be in danger and he wouldn't forgive himself if anything happened to them. He listened on as they began to speak.

"What did you call me here for, now, Karin?" The figure groaned in annoyance.

"Quit whining, you dweeb, geez, you really need to work on your patience." Karin shot back.

"Just get to the point, four-eyes."

"Ughh...alright, alright. I just want you to make sure that neither Queen Tsunade nor anyone _ever_ gets out of the Kingdom of Spring."

"That's what I've been doing..." The figure said as he yawned.

"Pay attention! Whatever happens, the Kingdom of Spring should never hear anything about Sakura. Not even a single word about her should reach the Kingdom."

"Yeah, Yeah...Not a single word about Princess Sakura should reach her...got it."

"Ahem." Karin cleared her throat in warning.

"Fine, Fine, Sakura without the 'Princess' title."

"Good. You're dismissed. We'll meet again later." She said.

"Yeah, whatever." The figure replied and poofed out.

Karin then turned around and walked away, heading towards her room. She still did not notice Sasuke or sense him around the corner as she walked past him. When she was out of sight, Sasuke reversed his invisibility spell. " _Obstendo!"_

To say that Sasuke was shocked was an understatement. Karin's conversation with the unknown figure replayed on and on in his mind. Every statement, every truth that came out made him comprehend everything about Sakura. Everything Naruto explained about the princess in the letter, The poem describing her which matches Sakura in every way, the unusual grace and eloquence that she possessed, the day when he thought Sakura was actually a princess when he realized the poem matched her. Everything made sense to him now.

Naruto must have been involved too. The way he glared at Karin when he saw Sakura and the way he held Sakura close in the training grounds. Now, he thought that the annoying sinking feeling he felt when he saw Sakura hugging Naruto, was ridiculous.

Right now, he did not intend to disclose the secret since that would be unwise on his part. He cannot force the truth out of Karin because he didn't want to seem suspicious. So that means he would have to force it out of Sakura and Naruto. Those two had a lot of explaination in store for him.

Sasuke glared at the ground. He should've known a lot sooner that Sakura was the Real Princess and that Karin impersonated her. He decided to deal with that later. Tomorrow, he will have to make Sakura and Naruto to tell him the truth. He will have to figure out how.

* * *

 **Whew, finally, took me long enough to write this chapter. I didn't plan on writing the last paragraph where Sasuke discovers part of the truth. I wanted to make him feel oblivious (and jealous of Naruto) to the truth but one of my friends suggested some ideas which made me write the last paragraph. Now the story would be very challenging for me to write (And I love challenging XD). So please review because it took me a lot of effort and brains for me to write and the next update will probably be around the first week of June.**

 ** _Obscuro!_ \- Used to conceal one's appearance, i.e, causes the user to become invisible.**

 ** _Obstendo!_ \- Used to undo the _Obscuro!_ spell, i.e, reveals the user's appearance.**

 **Read. Review. Enjoy.**

 **~ _Avenger360Blossom_**


	7. The Truth

**Hi everyone! Guess what? I just discovered** **that you can post chapters from your phone (which I thought it was really impossible though). My laptop crashed so this chapter I've been working on got deleted so I had to write it again. Anyways, so here I am after a long time, thank you for your patience, support and reviews. I'm really sorry to keep you waiting and also for rushing the story a tad bit too much. Oh and, an early update before a month's vacation to hawaii would be nice right?**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the other characters in the story.**

* * *

~Chapter 7: The Truth~

Sakura hummed to a tune as she polished the weapons in front of her. She felt, to some extent, happy and content, ever since her brother's arrival four days ago, because he was able to sneak into the training grounds unseen, to meet her. He'd talk to her for a few minutes before leaving immediately, since they can't risk anyone seeing their interaction. She didn't like disobeying Karin's orders, out of fear for her mother's safety, but this was an order she couldn't just obey. Besides the fact that she was showing defiance, though not in front of Karin, of course, really pleased her. She and Naruto will just have to be careful because there is no way she was distancing herself from her brother anytime soon.

However, she couldn't help but feel...lonely. Even though she was happy that she has finally reunited with her brother again, she missed Prince Sasuke's presence greatly, since he did not show up at the training grounds today, much to Sakura's disappointment.

She had expected to see Naruto this afternoon again, but she had this...strong, sudden desire to see the prince so badly. She grew worried when she thought that Sasuke might be avoiding her for some reason she's unaware of.

"Sakura-chan, there you are!" A voice called out.

Sakura was brought out from her reverie when she saw Rin running towards her, panting.

"What is it, Rin-sensei?" She asked as she stood up while placing the newly-polished sword in her hand.

"Queen Mikoto wishes to see you."

* * *

Mikoto paced back and forth in her room, trying to collect her thoughts while calming herself down but to no avail. A few hours earlier, she had overheard her husband's conversation with their trusted advisor, Obito, that King Gaara of the Kingdom of Sand was found oddly missing in his palace. No one knew anything about his absence, but the guards were found dead, even worse, they did not show any sign of injury on them. The captor, however, did not leave any other trail behind, save for the strange, mysterious killing of the guards. His siblings, Kankuro and Temari ordered hundreds of search parties to rescue the King, but unfortunately, all of them returned empty-handed.

Gaara was captured a few weeks ago, however, there was another mysterious disapperance that took place at the same time. The orphan born King, King Sai of the Kingdom of Ice, was captured the same way King Gaara was. But when Sai disappeared, his room was covered with nothing but spikes of ice and blood, which meant he must have been injured while fighting his captor.

However, there was a dagger which was pinned on Sai's desk along with a letter, but...the letter was written in a strange language which could not be deciphered. Hence, the Kingdom of Sand and the Kingdom of Ice, now combined forces to rescue their respective Kings. Till now, nobody could decode the letter, or how the sand guards died and Sai and Gaara were still yet to be found.

But whoever was behind these mysterious disappearances did not intend to stop. Just two days earlier, word spread that Queen Hinata's brother, Prince Neji of the Kingdom of Sun, had mysteriously disappeared as well. This time, no guards were dead, rather they were injured and there was no such strange letters in his room.

But there was a visible sign. Inside his room, there was a mark on the wall which was a giant, red cobra, breathing flames and was encircled in a letter 'O'. The injured guards reported that they couldn't make out the captor's features and that he was too agile to be sighted.

Queen Hinata immediately left for her father's kingdom to help them, as the news of her brother's disappearance affected her greatly. The mysterious mark in Neji's room was an obvious sign left by the captor but still no one knew what it meant.

But to Mikoto Uchiha, that mark was all too familiar to her and her eyes widened in shock and fear. She swiftly walked towards one of the family paintings on the wall. In one painting she was now gazing at, was Fugaku, who held a stoic expeession, but his hand was placed on young Itachi's shoulder while his other, encircled Mikoto's waist. Young Itachi was smiling an innocent smile, quite similar to his mother's. Soon, her eyes travelled to the baby boy in her arms. The new born, was in a deep slumber, but his tiny hands were clutching the fabric of Mikoto's dress.

The queen's gaze lingered on the infant, subconciously gliding her hand gently on his picture. _'Sasuke_...' Mikoto thought anxiously, as if remembering something painful from her past.

However, she was snapped from her thoughts when she heard a soft knock on her door. She became alert to her surroundings and replied. "Come in."

The door opened to reveal a certain maid, "Your Majesty, have you summoned for me?"

Mikoto smiled, somewhat relieved that it was just the servant she had taken a liking to. She was still surprised at the eloquence and unusual grace she possessed, like that of a refined princess. If only she could catch a glimpse of the girl's features though, except for her emerald green eyes that is.

"Ah, Sakura! I've been expecting you. Come in."

"I apologise for keeping you waiting, Your Majesty." Sakura replied politely as she entered after closing the door.

"Sakura, Sakura, Sakura, I told you, no apologising and also, call me Mikoto...only if Fugaku is not around." The queen laughed.

Sakura blushed, feeling embarrassed. "Sorry, Mikoto-san." She said meekly, but smiled, even though it went unnoticed by the woman. She still had yet to get used to the queen's kindness.

"That's better." Mikoto smiled before frowning.

Feeling concerned and also a bit curious, Sakura asked, "Is...everything alright, Mikoto-san?"

Mikoto remembered what she had summoned the girl's presence for. Her previous worries flooded in her mind again. She then, took a deep breath and looked at Sakura.

"Sakura, I...Can I ask you a favour? If you don't mind, that is."

Sakura was startled at the question, wondering why she sounded like something was bothering her. Then again, she nodded. "Of course, anything, Your Ma- I mean, Mikoto-san..."

"Alright," The queen smiled gratefully. "I want you to watch over Sasuke for me. If anything happens to him, report back to me, immediately." She instructed.

It took Sakura a few minutes to register what the Uchiha matriach had just said. Sakura's eyes widened at her request. She didn't know what to say or feel but she knew three things:

 _The queen_ just asked her to watch over Prince Sasuke.

The queen just asked her to watch over _Prince_ _Sasuke_.

The queen just asked _her_ to watch over Prince Sasuke.

"Sakura...? Are you alright?"

Sakura realised that she was too dazed to notice that Mikoto was calling her a few times so she apologised abruptly.

Mikoto laughed heartily. "It's fine. You may leave now." She said, in a while hiding her worry, but Sakura seemed to recognise it.

Sakura smiled and nodded. "I will inform you as soon as I can. Your Majesty." She reassured and left without wasting any time and without questioning her any further.

* * *

Itachi raised a brow at his brother. Normally, Sasuke would be bickering with Naruto right now, or even challenge each other to a fight. But here he was at the library, burying his head into books, mostly spell books and history about Uchihas and magic.

Not only Sasuke has been spending his time in the library these days, he locks himself up in his room, taking a few more books with him. He also noticed that his younger brother developed dark circles under his eyes and became a lot paler than he usually was.

Not only that, whenever Naruto was near, Sasuke just simply ignored him. This made Itachi puzzled. 'Strange...weren't they the best of friends?' He noted that Sasuke had been training only when no one was around in the training fields, even when a certain maid was not around either.

Even Naruto noticed Sasuke's cold behaviour. Sure, he ignores him, barely talks to him, heck, he never bothered to even look at him, but this time, he seemed oddly indifferent. Naruto thought, maybe Sasuke just needed some rest, or maybe he was annoyed because of Karin, but he noticed that his best friend was indeed giving him the cold shoulder. Everytime Naruto started a converation, he would just speak a few words before ignoring him completely.

This made Naruto worried. Sasuke was one of his closest friends ever since he could remember. As much as they hated each other's guts, he was there whenever he needed him. He hated to admit it but, he was hurt by Sasuke's sudden change in attitude. He already felt guilty about Sakura's predicament, he didn't want his friendship with Sasuke's to deteriorate as well.

So Naruto took it upon himself to find out what he did that made Sasuke act this way and settle things between them.

* * *

Sasuke was heading towards the training grounds when his ears perked up at a strange, unusual rustling noise, causing him to stop. He rolled his onyx eyes and continued walking in his own aloof manner. A certain idiot was still awfully the worst when it came to stealth.

'...3...2...1...' Sasuke counted dully as he trudged.

And the next thing he heard was...

A loud, obnoxious battle cry... "AHHHHHH!"

Naruto flung his sword with might as he aimed for Sasuke while he kept yelling.

Sasuke swiftly turned around, with his sword, already unsheathed and clashed Naruto's sword with his own. The two then, repelled from each other from the clash and started their fight again.

"What...the hell...Naruto!?" Sasuke snarled between frequent clashes.

"What...the hell, yourself...Teme!?" Naruto yelled in the same way, as they fought. Their swords clashed again. "What is wrong with you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about..."

"Oh, you know _very well,_ what I'm talking about. You're not being yourself, Teme!" Naruto snapped. "You've been acting a lot grouchier than usual, why aren't you telling me what's going on!?"

"There is nothing wrong with me." Sasuke deadpanned and the two friends moved away from each other.

"Like hell nothing's wrong! I'm not letting you getting away this time and I'm not gonna move from this spot until you tell me." Naruto said stubbornly as he sheathed his sword.

They glared at each other for some time until Sasuke spoke. "You won't move from that spot, huh?"

"Never...Believe it!"

"Hn." The prince sheathed his sword and smirked. "...Then don't."

With that he turned around and continued walking towards the training grounds, leaving Naruto flabbergasted and his jaws dropped. 'God, I should really choose my words carefully!'

"Grrr...Teme!" He growled in frustration and ran until he caught up to him.

However, he froze when he heard a scream, even Sasuke stopped dead in his tracks. They looked at each other and then ran as fast as they could to the training grounds.

' _Imouto_ , I'm coming!' Naruto thought worriedly as he ran with Sasuke in tow.

* * *

As they reached the training field, a horrifying scene lay unfolded in front of them. Naruto watched, his eyes widening while Sasuke stared ahead but his eyebrows furrowed.

Sakura slowly backed away, gripping the sword in her hand tightly while pointing it towards the slithering, hungry creatures in front of her. Sweat trickled down her face, her body shaking with horror, ready to attack when one of them threatened to lounge forward. The slithering, reptiles or rather, snakes, were approaching dangerously towards her, showing off their venomous fangs whenever they hissed angrily.

"We need to help her!" Naruto exclaimed as he watched Sakura shook uncontrollably with fear. "There are like hundreds of them! She won't be able to face them alone!"

Before he could rush to her aid, about to unsheath his sword, Sasuke stopped him, causing the blonde king to glare at him. He can't stand and do nothing while her sister was in grave danger!

"Sasuke! Don't tell me you're just gonna let her die like that! That's not-"

"Those aren't just ordinary snakes, Naruto..." Sasuke reprimanded while he pointed towards the scene.

Naruto followed his eyes to where his friend was pointing. His eyes widened in disbelief when he saw his sister, slaying all the reptiles with her sword. But what disgusted him was that the mutilated creatures were multiplying themselves, thus it was just more than hundreds of them, leaving Sakura flabbergasted and terrified.

"You see..." Sasuke noted. "They must have been a part of a single one before it was annhilated. After that, they just divided themselves into hundreds. They're quite similar to a typical snake but their venom is quite dangerous."

"So, how do we get rid of them and rescue her?" Naruto asked, anxiously.

"Hn. You forget, that I'm a wizard." Sasuke snorted and stepped into the training fields. The venomous snakes were about to lounge themselves toward her when the prince chanted. " _V_ _ipera...Evanesca!_ "

He waved his wand instantly towards the slithering monsters as a continuous, rapid, golden blaze of lightning shot out of his wand, gradually, destroying all of them. His chakra was draining out but he still didn't stop as he was reaching his limit.

Sakura stood frozen as she watched all the creatures vanish in front of her, the sword, stained with fresh animal blood, hanging limply from her clutches. Naruto watched on silently, as Sasuke destroyed all of them.

When the last of all the snakes perished, the blaze also started to fade away from Sasuke's wand. He panted heavily as he lowered his it, as he reached beyond his limit. He glanced at Sakura who slowly gazed back at him, barely recovering from a state of shock when she watched all the creatures die.

Before anyone could utter a word, Sasuke felt a wave of pain in his head as exhaustion started to take over him. His vision started to blur as he felt himself lose balance. Soon he started to hear strange voices in his head...more like screaming.

 _'No! Please, don't take my child! Take me instead! Just please don't take Sasuke!'_

 _'If you ever lay a finger on my son, I'll crush you right here!'_

 _'Shh, don't cry Sasuke, I will protect you. I promise...'_

 _'Mark my words, ALL of you! I WILL return! And when I get my hands on your precious child, I will slaughter each and everyone of you and burn this Kingdom to its core!'_

Soon, the sounds of malicious laughter echoed through his head as Sasuke started to collapse, his unconsciousness fading away before hearing Naruto call out his name.

Instead of hitting the ground, Sakura, who was already rushing towards him the moment she saw Sasuke stumble, caught him instantly; one of her arms wrapping around his waist while the other supported his head which rested on her collar bone. His spiky, ebony hair brushed against her cheeks, his breathing tickled her skin, his arms hung limply which rested on his legs and his wand was still in his grip but loosely hanging. This was the closest contact Sakura ever felt with Sasuke.

Naruto crouched down as he rushed towards Sakura and Sasuke. " _Imouto_ , are you alright? I was worried back there! We heard you scream before we were just entering the training grounds." Naruto asked with concern.

Sakura gave a small smile and nodded. "I'm completely unharmed, _Ni-san_." She assured him. But then her expression was now a worried one as she glanced at the sleeping prince in her arms.

"He'll be fine, _Imouto_..." Naruto assured her. "He just needs a lot of sleep. He's been exhausting himself lately for God knows why."

Sakura glanced at him questioningly, "What do you think has he been doing?"

"He's been into those hideous things they call 'books' and been visiting that spooky place called the 'library'." Naruto joked and gagged. "And he calls _me_ a Dobe."

Sakura laughed at his antics while he grinned in response.

"We need to bring him to his room, without being seen." Naruto said suddenly.

His sister nodded. "Right."

* * *

Sakura placed a wet, damp cloth on Sasuke's forehead to reduce the heat emanating from him. Before she and her brother managed to bring him to his room without anyone watching, especially Karin, they brought him to Rin who gave them some medicine for quick recovery, some chakra pills, and advised _plenty_ of rest.

The raven-haired prince was completely drained out of chakra out of exhaustion and also came down with a fever which explains why he still has yet to wake up. He was laying on his bed, wrapped under warm, thick blankets, without his coat he had previously worn, just a loose shirt with his pants.

Sakura watched Sasuke in his somewhat peaceful slumber. His sharp, pale features glowed in candle light in his dark room, making him look much more...alluring. She observed how his chest rose up and fall back down rhythmically with every breath he took, his eyebrows that usually furrowed when he frowned or glared, were now set in a normal line. Unlike how he always kept a stoic and brooding expression, he now looked calm and serene and had this boyish innocence on his face. Compared to how his lips would set into a smirk or frown, they now remained straight but slightly apart from one another.

In other words, Sakura declared that Sasuke was beautiful when he slept. He looked much more calm and serene, as if heaven had sent her an angel before her. More importantly, she was deeply grateful that he saved her life, though nearly costing his. The least Sakura could do to return the favour, was to help him regain his health.

"How is he doing?" Naruto asked out of the blue, as he looked out of Sasuke's bedroom window.

"His fever is reducing a little." Sakura replied.

There was a long moment of silence until Naruto broke it. "Where did those...snakes, come from?"

Sakura paused for a moment before answering. "I know it sounds strange but...I saw it with my own eyes. There was this sword, it looked nothing like the others, yet it was strange. But the moment I touched it...it transformed into a fairly, giant snake."

This caused Naruto to glance at her, surprised at her revelation. There was no such thing as swords turning into snakes. 'Something is just not right here.' Naruto thought. "And then what happened?"

"I used one of the swords to eliminate it, at first. After that, ten more emerged out of its body. Those snakes in turn, kept dividing themselves further and further whenever I tried to wipe them out. In other words, the snake kept on dividing itself into hundreds." Sakura explained.

Naruto's expression turned grim. 'So Teme was right after all...but the question is...who would plan this attack in the first place? And for what?' Naruto thought.

"Could there be someone out there who wants me dead...?"

This question caught Naruto off guard. Then he offered his best smile he could ever muster. "Don't worry, _Imouto_ , I told you, I will never let anyone hurt you. Not even that _Karin_ girl." Naruto seethed when he said the red-head's name. "Speaking of her, what if she was the one who did it?"

" _Ni-san_ , we cannot jump into conclusions yet."

Before Naruto was about to protest, he was interrupted by the sound of shallow breathing. Sakura's head snapped towards Sasuke, who stirred slightly, his face twisting in discomfort and was breathing in an abnormal rate. His forehead creased and his eyesbrows furrowed as he gritted his teeth before he started to groan, muttering curses at nothing in particular as he gripped the sheets tightly in his fists.

"We need to wake him up!" Naruto exclaimed as he moved to his side at an instant and desperately tried to shake his best friend awake.

Sakura watched helplessly because she really didn't know what to do since she was too dumbfounded to see the prince like this.

Sasuke kept stirring uncontrollably as his breathing became even shallower. "No...No...don't..." He muttered.

"Teme, wake up! Snap out of it!" Naruto cried.

It wasn't long until Sasuke's eyes snapped open, and sat up instantly, breathing hard with cold sweat. But what made Sakura startled was his orbs. They were no longer...onyx.

Instead, they were the shade of scarlet, sharply indicating his pupils, but had a different pattern. There were three strange comma shaped structures circling around his pupil. But what was more alarming was that, those eyes reflected what he felt.

Pain...Agony...Shock...Anger...and more importantly...Fear...

And just by looking at those ruby red eyes, Sakura felt a deep pang in her chest.

He muttered incoherently. "He was right...there...I...saw him just now."

"Look, whatever this is all about, snap out of it! Alright?" Naruto interjected.

Now that brought Sasuke out of his 'thoughts' as the three comma shaped structures were circling slowly, that soon faded away along with the vermilion colour, his orbs turning back to onyx and his breathing soon became normal. He scanned the room cautiously, only to see Naruto who glanced back with worry and Sakura who had the same expression. But when he realized that they were the only ones in his room with him, he raised a brow.

"What are you two doing here...?"

Sakura froze but Naruto grinned idiotically. "Aw, come on, Teme, we dragged your bottom, all the way from the training grounds, back here, and this how you thank us?" He joked.

Sasuke grunted "And...?"

The blonde just shrugged. "And Sakura-chan took care of you while you were asleep and I was just looking the window." But then he crossed his arms. "Oh, I just realized that a _certain someone..."_ He shot Sasuke an accusing look. "...has forgotten to tell me why he was so mad at me for the past four days..."

Now Sakura was lost, for she did not know what was going on.

But being the kind of person who always kept things only to himself, for a reason, that is, Sasuke simply replied. "I'm not the one cheating on my wife."

This made Naruto puzzled. "What?"

"You heard me."

"You think I'm cheating on Hinata?" Naruto said incredulously. "Why on earth would you think that?"

"You said you and the princess are good friends."

"I told you, we don't go that way! Not in a million years!" He exclaimed. He thought Sasuke was talking about Karin so he decided he should play along. Little did he know, the prince had meant otherwise...

Now Sakura was completely clueless as the two friends bickered, but she decided to stay quiet.

"So what you're saying is that you don't want to be friends, rather be secret lovers." Sasuke deadpanned, but smirked inwardly when Naruto groaned.

A vein popped on the blonde's head. "Please, I'd rather die than wish for such a thing! I would _love_ to see that fraud die a terrible death, who calls herself a 'Princess' and keeps torturing my-" Naruto stopped to realize what he was saying as his eyes widened and his mouth hung open when no more words came out. 'Oh no...'

Sakura eyes slowly widened and froze completely. She then slowly glanced at Sasuke who surprisingly, seemed calm about it.

The whole room went silent and Naruto and Sakura were at a loss for words. But to Sasuke, the look on their faces was amusing. Naruto was so easy to fool, thus he could never hide from Sasuke about anything that was bothering him.

The prince sighed and looked at them again. He really had enough of this drama. "Did you really think I wouldn't find out, sooner or later...?"

"...You knew...but...how...?" Was all Naruto could say.

"That's not important..." Sasuke replied calmly. "All I want...is the truth."

Naruto and Sakura did not seem to recover from shock as they slowly looked at each other. Her eyes were wide enough, not daring to say a word that would reveal their secret.

Finally, Naruto sighed. "It's useless to hide it from him now. We need to tell him."

However, Sakura persisted. "But...I'm under an oath! And what about _Kaa-chan_? Her life is on the line!"

"She will be safe. We'll look for a way to reveal the truth, without the risk of anyone's life." Naruto assured. "Besides, you maybe under an oath...but I'm not."

"But-"

"Trust me, it will make things a lot easier for us with Sasuke on our side. He can be of great help." His brother cut in. "We need to tell him... _Imouto_..."

As soon as the last word escaped from his mouth, Sasuke's eyes widened slightly at the revelation of their true relationship.

Seeing his best friend's reaction, Naruto gave a Sakura a smile before turning to him. "That's right Teme...but even if you already know, let me properly introduce you..." Naruto said as he got up and took his sister's hand. Understanding that her brother's decision was probably for the best, Sakura stood straight, her shoulders kept squared, chin held high and her arms folded when she presented herself in front of the people of the Kingdom of Spring.

"This is Princess Sakura of the Kingdom of Spring, daughter of King Minato and Queen Kushina of the Kingdom of Leaf and foster daughter of Queen Tsunade of the Kingdom of Spring, my biological sister and...the one you're really marrying."

Sakura bowed elegantly and smiled a bit nervously at the prince.

Sasuke sat there speechless, though his expression was void of any emotion, before he shook his head while being snapped from his thoughts. "What is the meaning of this?"

Naruto sighed as he sat down next to him, with Sakura doing the same. "I'll just have to explain this right from the beginning."

The blonde king began narrating about what happened while Sasuke listened intently, remaining silent throughout. For the past four days, Naruto was able to find out the gist of what happened, by listening into conversations between Karin and Sakura. At times, he would spy on Karin and hear her revel on what she has done. Then, with much persuasion, he was able to get specific details from Sakura. After Naruto had finished narrating, Sasuke's intent gaze was now shifted to his hands that were folded on his legs. Every truth that came out of his friend's mouth made him comprehend everything.

"So we need to think of a way to expose Karin's lies in front of everyone." Naruto finally concluded.

Sakura, who was watching at the two converse, now glanced at Sasuke, who was silent for sometime.

Finally after a few minutes, he spoke, still not looking up. "You've been facing this alone this whole time..." He finally turned to Sakura.

Sakura remained silent throughout this whole time as she looked down, but Naruto noticed she was blushing. "Well...it wasn't that bad...thanks to Sasuke-san's company..."

'Sasuke-san...? Not even Prince Sasuke, or Sasuke-sama...? Just how long did those two know each other?' Naruto mused while grinning inwardly.

"Tch..." Sasuke tried his best not to look at her after that statement. He ran his hand through his hair and sighed while looking away. He might just lose control and let that wretched blush grace his features and make his pale cheeks turn slight pink. But even if the room was only lit by a single candle light, Naruto saw his struggle and can't help but snicker at the sight, only to stop when he was met with his best friend's death glare.

Naruto looked out the window and realized they have been talking for quite a long time now. "Hey Teme, I need to go. We can't let anyone suspect us, else _Imouto_ will be in danger!" He said quickly before kissing Sakura's forehead and rushing to Sasuke's door.

Before leaving, he warned. "You better get some rest, Teme! I might as well kill you, if you don't."

Sakura let out a soft giggle while Sasuke grunted. There was a long silence after that and neither of them said a word for they were lost in their own thoughts...

Until Sakura lowered her face in embarrassment. "Your eyes..." She spoke quietly, causing Sasuke to glance at her. "They were...red when you woke up..."

Sasuke's eyes widened slightly, but widened even more by her next words.

"Do you mind if...you would show them again...?"

He expected her to fear him, to hate him, to think of him as a monster. He wondered why she would want to see his wretched eyes that might kill her in a split second. Then again, he closed them for a moment, before they opened to reveal the same vermillion red eyes, Sakura had previously seen.

Sakura gazed into his scarlet orbs in surprise and wonder. She did not realise that she was sitting close to him as she subconsciously reached out to touch his face, causing Sasuke to become slightly tense at the contact. They locked their gazes into each other as Sakura found herself lost in his eyes. She now declared that his eyes were beautiful even when they were red. Her thumb brushed his cheek as he leaned a bit closer to her hand.

"Amazing..." She blurted out what she was thinking, out loud.

Sasuke paused for a moment. "So..." He trailed. "You don't...hate me...?"

"Why would I ever hate you...?" Sakura asked, startled by his question. "You never did anything to deserve my hatred...besides..." Sakura smiled a genuine smile as her hand traveled down until she placed it at the nape of his neck. "You saved my life, I could never thank you enough, Sasuke-san."

Sasuke's mouth was slightly open as his eyes now dilated. The scarlet shade of his orbs disappeared along with the commas, thus his orbs were now the shade of midnight black, that Sakura adored the most.

However, after they were silent for a moment, she was caught by surprise and shock when Sasuke swiftly leaned in to kiss her lightly on her lips, causing her eyes to widen.

Sakura was...rendered speechless and found herself blush several shades of red, that outmatched Hinata's, and stammered. "Wh-What was-"

"There's nothing wrong in kissing my fiance." He said while closing his eyes and smirked.

"Eh-EHH!? B-But Sasuke-san...!" She exclaimed, clearly flustered. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy the kiss for it felt like eternity as her heart fluttered and breathing almost stopped. Besides, it was their first kiss, _her_ first kiss. She had been waiting for this moment, ever since she first met him.

The said prince closed his eyes and smirked. "Hn. 'Sasuke-san' is too formal."

Sakura let out a surprised gasp, clearly astonished by his statement. "Wh-What!? But-"

"Don't argue."

"Umm..." Sakura knew what he wanted. After realizing that she had started to grow fond of him, she had dreamt of calling Sasuke in a less conventional manner but she couldn't. But then again, he knew that she was the real princess anyway, so maybe it was alright.

She closed her eyes and stuttered in an unsure tone. "S-Sasuke...k-kun...?"

She expected him to tell her that it was too informal for his liking. Instead, she felt his lips brush against hers again, but this time, she shyly returned the kiss. It happened so fast that Sakura was still in a pure bliss, when all she could think of was the kisses and the word he had whispered in her ear.

" _Perfect_..."

* * *

"...And that is what happened, your Majesty..." Sakura replied after explaining the details about her encounter with snakes and Prince Sasuke's condition, without revealing the fact that she was actually the real princess and that King Naruto was her brother. Also she also excluded Sasuke also knowing about the truth and that she was his real betrothed.

"...I see..." Mikoto nodded while frowning. But she smiled gratefully at her. "Oh, thank you Sakura, you've been of great help. I knew I had no doubt that I could trust you in watching over my son...It is truely rare to find wonderful, kind and trustworthy people like you these days..." She said genuinely, meaning each every word she had uttered.

Sakura bowed politely. "It is my duty...your Majesty..."

Mikoto cleared her throat in a teasing way, causing Sakura to sweatdrop and correct herself. "I mean...Mikoto-san..."

"That's better...Now, I've decided that you deserve tomorrow a break from your duties. No more questions." She declared.

Sakura's emerald eyes sparkled. "Thank you Mikoto-san..."

The queen laughed heartily. "Your welcome dear, you may leave now. Oh and take care of yourself."

Sakura bowed in consent and moved towards the door in retreat. As soon as she left, Mikoto gazed on the floor and her eyes narrowed.

Obviously nobody in their twisted, sickening minds, would be so 'skilled' enough to create a sword which would turn into a giant deadly snake that multiplied when obliterated. Nobody would be so powerful enough to kill Gaara's sand guards, let alone leave them unscathed. No one would just strangely leave a letter which needed decoding, on Sai's desk. Moreover, nobody would intentionally leave a visible trail, like the mark in Neji's wall.

Mikoto tried to puzzle those pieces of information together, and when she did, her eyes widened in horror as she finally found out the person behind those mysterious disappearances, whose next target was...her younger son...

' _Orochimaru_!' She thought, terrified.

Mikoto wasted no time in searching for her husband.

* * *

 **Wow...just...wow...never knew I could write this long...Anyways, at least it's better than the deleted one.**

 _ **Vipera Evanesca! -**_ **Used to repel/destroy snakes or other reptiles.**

 **Read. Review. Enjoy.**

 **~ _Avenger360Blossom_**


	8. The Confession

**Please don'** **t** **kill me? I tried...keyword : TRIED, to upload this chapter, but my stupid laptop...UGH! And the worst part? I started over again and I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW WHERE TO START! And I got really busy with college, (YES! I'M IN COLLEGE NOW!) you know all the assignments and exams and crap? Yep, life has given me really bad lemons (lol. Lemons, haha...but I'm not a big fan of those kind of fics...)**

 **So yeah, I hope I have made a really good comeback, you guys. Warning : Contains a LOT of fluff, and I'm sorry if I made Sasuke a bit OOC, but if I didn't then...okay.**

 **Disclaimer : I do not own Naruto or any other characters in the story.**

* * *

~Chapter 8: The Confession~

Sakura sighed contently as she danced in the garden, Sasuke had shown her. She was given two days off from her duties and she really wanted to spend it in the gardens like what she did back in the Kingdom of Spring. It's been a while since she felt the same feeling of joy and pure bliss, like how she felt in her real home. Like nothing could ever go wrong.

Just a couple days earlier, the two most important men in her life, her brother and the man she had feelings for, had made it clear that they will help her out of this mess. She was sure that with those two, nothing could ever break her. Sakura could never feel grateful enough.

Colourful, gaudy petals swirled around her as she danced, the vibrancy of her hair being enhanced by the shimmering rays of the sun. Again, she was lost in her own world.

Meanwhile, behind the cherry blossom trees, unnoticed by the rosette, was a man in green, who had been watching her (or rather spying on her), stared longingly at the dancing beauty.

"Oh, my youthful Sakura-san, you are ever so beautiful." Lee sighed as he continued to spy on her. "I can hardly wait for you to realize and proclaim your unconditional love for someone as youthful as me!"

Then his eyes fell on her hair and immediately lightened up. "Maybe if I have a part of Sakura-san with me, then she shall fall in love with me sooner!"

Satisfied and proud with his idea, he slowly crept towards her, about to reach for a strand of her vibrant pink hair, until Sakura quickly turned in reflex and grabbed his hand in a firm grip; her eyes set in a glare, although not that intimidating like Sasuke's, but fierce nonetheless.

However, she remained like that for a split second until she recognised the person to be Lee, causing her to gasp in surprise and immediately release her vice-like grip on his wrist.

"Lee-san? Oh no, I am terribly sorry, I didn't know you were here! You had me startled!" She exclaimed as she apologized for her behaviour.

Lee, on the other hand, was just as much as startled as she was. No, even more than that. He hadn't expected a girl, such as her, to be able to sense his presence, much less, make him flinch, at the firm grasp she previously had on his wrist and the fierce look in her eyes when she stared at him.

"No Sakura-san, it is I who is at fault...for sneaking up on you..." His voice free quieter and quieter with each word, scratching his head in embarrassment.

Hearing this, the said girl blinked. "May I ask...why?" She asked curiously.

"Ummm..." Lee sweated. He just couldn't possibly tell her the real reason behind this. "I was wondering...I was wondering if...if I could ask you out on a date when you were free again, my beautiful flower!" He winked while he showed a 'thumbs up' pose and a flashy grin.

Sakura sweatdropped at his request, but smiled awkwardly. "Uhh...that is...very sweet of you, Lee-san!" She trailed causing the bushy browed man to smile at her with hope. "But...I'm afraid I won't be able to. Forgive me." She immediately felt guilty when she saw his face turning crestfallen at her rejection. But suddenly, he grinned, with fire burning in his eyes with fierce determination.

"I know that you shall realise your love for me soon, so I shall not give up hope! I shall take my leave now, my beautiful cherry blossom! Until then, let the fire of flaming youth and boiling passion, burn bright!"

Sakura sweatdropped at his...'youthful' speech but, nevertheless, she smiled in apology as she watched him leave. "I'm sorry Lee-san..." She spoke softly, her hand subconsciously making it's way towards her chest. "My heart...belongs to Sasuke-kun..."

* * *

Sakura sighed with sorrow, as she continued to stroke Shiro's mane whose head was hung on the gate of the stables. "Oh Shiro..."

She was just heading towards the training grounds from the gardens, when she decided to pass by the stables, where the head of her beloved stallion friend, was mounted.

Occasionally, she would pass by the stables when no one was around and would face the mounted head of her horse. She would tell everything about what she did, who she met, and how people treated her and everything Sakura had faced until now.

"I'm sure that you are watching over me, Shiro..." She spoke while petting his mane before smiling faintly.

"But you know something? _Ni-san_ is here now and he decided to help me through this. And eventually, Sasuke-kun found out, but he'll help me, as well. He may be cold and indifferent, but he's really nice to me. So I have every right to trust him dearly."

She gently caressed it's jawline. "If only you were still here Shiro, I wouldn't have missed you so badly, like I am now." She continued. "But then again, you are probably resting well in a better place, or reincarnated as a knight since you were indeed loyal and valiant."

She laughed bitterly. "I must be making a fool out of myself, talking to a severed head of a mighty stallion."

Sakura took a step back and gazed at the horse's head one last time. "I must head to the training grounds now. Don't want to worry my brother and Sasuke-kun now, do I?"

Before leaving completely, she whispered to the wind, "Shiro, wherever you are, I really pray for your happiness...it is my wish for you to be..."

She smiled as she closed her eyes, as a gentle breeze flew past her, her pink locks waving in the wind. The breeze seemed to whisper to her, as what seems to be Shiro's answer.

" _Then so be it, Princess…"_

* * *

When she arrived at the training grounds, she found only Sasuke, in the middle of the field, slashing targets with his katana.

He immediately stopped when he sensed her presence. "Sakura."

The rosette looked around curiously before asking, "Have you seen _Ni-san_?"

"He said he had some things to take care of and will return a bit late." As he said this, his eyes were glued at her form, causing Sakura to fidget under his gaze.

"Umm…Sasuke-kun, w-what is it?" She asked nervously.

"No greeting." He bluntly replied.

The rosette blinked once…and twice before finally understanding what he meant. She immediately asked about her brother's whereabouts without as much as a simple 'hello' to him.

She smiled sheepishly and replied in an apologetic tone. "Oh, good afternoon Sasuke-kun."

"Not enough."

Sakura stared at him, even more puzzled at his curtness, but he simply smirked and pointed to his cheek, only to have her blushing instantly, like she knew what he wanted.

She placed her hand on his shoulder while rising on her toes and just as she was about to peck him lightly above his jawline, Sasuke inclined his head towards her, causing her lips to land on his own instead.

Sakura's eyes widened in shock whereas he smirked broadly in her lips before closing his eyes, tilting his head slightly to deepen the kiss, while his hands slowly snaked around her waist, pulling her closer to him.

Sakura couldn't think anymore as she felt her insecurities fade away with her desires now taking over her. She slowly closed her eyes as her hands gripped tightly on his collar, returning the kiss with much fervour.

She sighed in pure bliss after they slowly breaking apart from him, both catching their breaths after a few moments. They locked their eyes for a brief second before slowly moving closer-

"Ehem."

Sakura and Sasuke instantly pulled away from each other and turned to the person who interrupted them.

Naruto grinned at the two, feeling utterly amused at the scene that had unfolded in front of him.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk... taking advantage of girls now, Teme? How the mighty have fallen!" He shook his head as he wagged his finger. "Save it for the wedding, you two."

Sakura blushed and looked away in embarassment while Sasuke glared at Naruto. "Shut up, Dobe."

The said 'dobe' snickered at his best friend. "Ohohoho...is the pretty man Sasu- _chan_ _blushing_? I thought I'd never live to see the day!"

"Naruto..." Sasuke warned threateningly. "If you wish for me to shove my sword far up your behind then, by all means, please continue."

Naruto immediately brought up his hands in surrender and laughed. "Hey, hey, I was just teasing you! No need to be so graphic!"

Soon he wore a serious expression on his face. "Anyways...We need to get back to serious matters."

The two nodded as well.

"I've found out that the celebrations, regarding Prince Sasuke's engagement to _princess_ Karin, will be held in three weeks." The blonde spat acidly at the word 'princess' whereas Sakura glared at the ground in silence.

"King Fugaku isn't too happy with her, but since Sasuke isn't forfeiting - the Teme is rather picky when it comes to girls - he believes it's fine." Naruto informed. "So what's it gonna be Teme, do you plan on marrying Karin?"

A sour expression marred Sasuke's features. "No, I agreed to marry the Princess of the Kingdom of Spring...not an _imposter._ " He fought the urge to smirk when he found Sakura turn her attention to him, utterly shocked at his revelation.

"But at the moment, Karin is the one people believes to be the Princess." Naruto replied, clearly wanting to know what his best friend will say next.

"But _I_ don't. I accepted the arrangement with the _real_ princess. And I refuse to marry _anyone..._ other than her." He said with a tone of finality while he grabbed Sakura's arm, without any warning and pulled her closer to his chest, before finally wrapping his arm around her waist, only causing Sakura to turn the colour of Sasuke's favourite food.

She had a dazed look in her eyes when she stared at him, her insides bursting with happiness and warmth.

Naruto grinned at them. "Glad to know." He secretly glanced at her sister and they both shared a look of elatedness, before he turned to Sasuke, "Anyways, the engagement day will serve as the deadline for us. We will have to reveal the truth by that time, or else, it will be hard for us to find more opportunities."

"So what do we propose we should do?" Sakura inquired.

"I do not have a plan as of yet, but we need to trick Karin into believing that she still has the upper hand. These few weeks are enough time for us to formulate a plan. But right now, the three of us will keep up our act, like whatever we were doing for the past couple of days so that no one gets suspicious."

Naruto then warned. "But be careful, I heard Karin had recruited some people to work for her. We can't risk ourselves being caught."

Sasuke recalled the time he overheard the redhead's conversation with an unknown person; no doubt he was her subordinate. He remembered very clearly what they were discussing about, which lead to the prince figuring out Sakura's identity.

The rosette gasped. "How many did she hire?"

The blonde king sighed deeply. "I don't know. Just...be cautious. Who knows? They might be lurking around anywhere in the palace."

"Only when they are summoned." Sasuke noted, immediately drawing the siblings' attention. "They are hidden around the castle only when Karin summons them."

"I'm listening..." Naruto answered, wanting to know more.

"They will spy on Sakura or carry out the threat made, only when Karin tells them to." He took their silence as a cue for him to keep going.

"A couple days ago, I found her having a rendezvous with one of her subordinates."

Sakura's eyes widened, she had a bad feeling about this and Naruto didn't look too happy. "Who was she talking to? And what did he look like?"

"His face was concealed so it was difficult to identify him, but clearly, he seemed to be an assassin, working for some secret organisation, I believe." Sasuke paused to see their alarmed expressions.

"I don't like where this is going, Sasuke. Assassin? Secret organisation? You're joking right? You don't think whoever tried to harm _imouto_ two days ago, isn't connected to this, do you?" Naruto asked, fearfully.

"I don't know. But their conversation happened a few days before the attack. More importantly, I don't recall them, planning a devious plot like that to kill her. Maybe the trap was meant for someone else but Sakura fell victim instead." Sasuke theorised.

Sakura frowned deeply. "I agree with Sasuke-kun. Though, it's unlikely that the trap was meant for someone else, there's a high possibility that it was. She wouldn't have any motive to kill me already, else she would've done that from the beginning."

"I already notified Queen Mikoto about the incident, because it was part of my job, so I believe it is all up to your parents to handle this, Sasuke-kun." Sakura added, recieving a nod of approval from the prince.

"So what exactly did Karin tell that man?" Naruto asked curiously.

"She ordered him to ensure that word about Sakura does not reach the Queen of the Kingdom of Spring or anyone else." Sasuke replied. "Otherwise, whoever finds out..." He paused briefly. "...will be executed."

Sakura's eyes widened in horror, covering her mouth to prevent herself from screaming whereas Naruto gritted his teeth while clenching her fists. The siblings gathered themselves to calm down for a moment, not being able to take the whole news too well. But nonetheless, they felt grateful to Sasuke for disclosing this information to them.

"Alright, then in that case, our meetings will be kept short, same time, same place."

Sakura and Sasuke nodded in agreement. Then Sakura glanced at her brother confusedly. " _Ni-san_ , shouldn't you be in the Kingdom of Leaf?"

Naruto grinned. "No need to worry, _imouto_. I asked Kakashi to take over for now."

"Hn...the masked pervert?" Sasuke asked.

"Yep, that's him, alright. But he's efficient when he needs to be." Naruto stated. "Speaking of which, I asked him for a report on the current affairs there. So that concludes our meeting, I think. We just have to act normal, like we usually do while we think of a plan to expose the truth."

Naruto straightened himself and then opened his arms, inviting Sakura to jump in them. Sakura giggled and gladly moved to embrace her brother. While holding her close, her scent had caught Naruto's attention. "It's been a while since you smelled like flowers." Naruto grinned. "Did the Teme take you to Queen Mikoto's garden?"

"Yes! It's so beautiful!" Sakura exclaimed. "Have you been there too, _Ni-san_?"

"Once or twice." He replied. "When did he take you there?"

She shrugged in response. "About a week ago."

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise. "About a week ago? He took you there, despite not knowing you were a princess?" He sent a teasing smirk at his best friend. "Interesting..."

Sasuke shot him a glare in return, not before mumbling quietly, in annoyance, "Shut up."

Sakura looked confused. "What is interesting, _Ni-san_?"

"Nothing you should be concerned about." Naruto immediately changed the subject. "So have you met the caretaker of the garden?"

"You mean, Lee-san?" Naruto nodded. "Yes, he said he wished to ask me out when I'm free again."

Naruto almost laughed when Sasuke lightly groaned in annoyance. "Oh, so he likes you too, eh?"

He gave a sideway sly glance at the prince but this time, he earned a death glare in response. But the blonde ignored him and continued to tease his best friend whereas Sakura still seemed clueless.

"He better be wary, else he'll find his bottom being burnt in the 'flames of youth' as he calls it. Courtesy of a _certain_ someone." Naruto snickered when he saw Sasuke's eye twitch repeatedly.

"You mean you'd burn him, _Ni-san_?" She said incredulously.

The young king simply laughed. "No, I don't think I'll have the chance to get to him because of this _certain_ someone."

Sakura was about to ask what he meant when Naruto said he needed to go. He gave a quick kiss on his sister's cheek before running off.

Sakura smiled brightly and then waved at her brother's retreating figure before turning around, only to bump into a hard chest. She looked up to see the prince who stared back, with an unreadable expression on his face.

Instantly, rosette blushed at their close proximity, their faces only a few inches away. "Sasuke-kun...?"

He did not reply, nor did he move a muscle, but his onyx eyes never left her, clashing with her own emerald ones. Comparatively, he was the taller one out of the two whereas Sakura's height only seemed to reach till his shoulders.

Her hands rested on his chest, her frail, delicate body pressed against his toned, muscular one while his arms circled around her waist, one of them resting on her back, both feeling their heartbeats. They stayed like for minutes, until Sasuke brought one hand and brushed off some of her pink locks out of her face and tucked them behind her ear, a pink blush tainting her porcelain cheeks.

She felt his warm hand caress her cheeks, as she leaned against his touch, closing her eyes momentarily, placing her hand over his own, and bringing it closer to her lips. Sasuke then traced her luscious, rosy lips with his thumb, before tilting her chin to make her look at him.

He slowly leaned in closer to her face, their eyes coming to a close, until Sakura moved forward and then locked his lips with her own. She pressed herself onto him while wrapping her arms around his neck, entangling her hands in his spiky, raven hair and kissed him deeply, pouring out all the love and passion that she held for him since the moment she first set her eyes on him.

Sakura slowly, pulled apart from him, and they stared into each other's eyes once more, his warm breaths tickled her skin which sent shivers down her spine. She finally buried her face in the crook of his neck, inhaling the fresh scent of cologne whereas Sasuke rested his chin on top of her head, stroking her strawberry, pink locks.

They stayed like that for a moment until Sasuke spoke quietly. "Mine..."

Sakura's eyes widened, but didn't move. 'Did he...did he just say what I think he just said?' She thought, surprised. Then she heard him say it again, this time with firmness. "You are mine, Sakura..."

Sakura turned slightly pink, but she wanted to ask him something that she had been wondering about. "Sasuke-kun...does this mean anything? Am I the only one feeling this way?"

She felt his body stiffen but remained silent, yet she knew, he was listening. Sakura decided that there was no turning back and that she would properly confess her feelings to him.

"Sasuke-kun, you cannot simply claim me as yours because I am my own person. But why...does it feel like I want you to, so badly?" She nuzzled in his neck which sent a slight shiver throughout his whole body.

"But you know what? Ever since the day you found out who I really was and then started helping me out..." She paused for a few seconds before adding in a whisper. "I allowed myself...that starting from that day...I'd be all yours..." She felt his body shake a bit slightly, yet she continued. "You do not have to return my feelings if you don't want to, because I don't really know if it is even possible for two people to fall in love with each other for a short amount of time."

She shifted away from his neck and her arms lay gently on his chest, but she didn't look him in the eye, afraid of how he may react. "But I have..." She paused, letting out a shaky sigh to calm her beating heart. She wanted him to know, he deserved to know, she needed to tell him.

"Sasuke-kun..." She breathed calmly, but her heart was practically, begging her to say those three words, she thought she'd never say, "I love you..."

It was as if she now felt a huge weight being lifted off from her shoulders when she had said those words. But even words couldn't very well describe her feelings for him.

"Sakura..." Sasuke said while lifting her chin, making her meet his gaze. She closed her eyes shut, waiting for the cold rejection, but instead, he leaned closer to capture her lips in a chaste kiss.

When he pulled away, his forehead touched hers and stared straight into her eyes, letting her see deep into his soul, showing her the emotions he felt.

"Does that...give you my answer?" He asked her in a whisper.

She stared back, her eyes slightly watering at his midnight orbs that glinted softly, and smiled, happily hugging him while burying her face in his neck, clutching onto his shirt as if, never wanting to let go. Sasuke, in turn, encircled around her waist with one arm, while his other hand played with her roseate tresses.

"Stay away from him." He ordered.

The rosette was about to ask who but immediately recognised the person her raven-haired prince wanted her to stay away from. She grinned inwardly and decided to play with him for a bit. She pulled away from the hug to look at him, pretending to be curious. "From who? Sasuke-kun?"

"The caretaker of the garden."

"Lee-san...? But he's a nice man."

"You better do it. _Avoid_ that man."

She hummed in a joking manner. "Hmm...I'll have to think about it, then."

"Sakura..." He groaned.

Sakura giggled and leaned on his torso, feeling his heartbeat. "Yes, Sasuke-kun?"

"...You're annoying."

Sakura giggled again. "I love you too, Sasuke-kun." Then she closed her eyes and buried her face in his chest. "And you're the _only_ man I'll ever love." She breathed.

Sasuke relaxed slightly and buried his head in the crook of her neck, hugging her more tightly while his other hand played with her pink tresses. At the same time, he inhaled her sweet scent before he suddenly mumbled. "Naruto was right, you do smell like flowers."

Sakura giggled and sighed. She felt so safe...so free, like she was dancing in the gardens, like she was herself again, as if she had come home.

She felt so happy for the first time in a long while, that she forgot everthing else and couldn't care less about her surroundings right now.

 _What mattered was...she had Sasuke..._

 _She had feelings for him...loved him with all her heart._

 _But what mattered to her the most...?_

 _He had returned them...without having to say anything..._

* * *

For the next few days, despite Lee's more frequent and enthusiastic advances, Sakura politely refused them all. Thanks to her training with Sasuke (who had remained insistent on sparring.) and her brother, Naruto, her sensory skills sharpened and was often able to sense Lee sneaking up on her. She also noticed that she was after something specifically and Sakura was observant enough that it was her hair that he was after.

She loved the fact that she was able to remove her hood when she was in the garden so she refused to wear it even though Lee was after some strands of her hair. Instead she let her reflexes do the work for her. For some instance, there was a time when Lee's hand has reached far too close to her tresses than she intended for him to. In response to that, Sakura grabbed his arm and threw him over her shoulder. She would immediately apologize that she was just too startled and that she didn't know what came over her. Of course, Lee who was always blinded by his infatuation for her, would instantly accept her excuse.

In fact, Lee believed every excuse that Sakura gave him.

But what both Lee and Sakura didn't know, that there was always someone observing them. And he did not seem to buy any of her excuses.

* * *

"You wished to have a word with me?" Fugaku asked in his intimidating tone of his. He did not admit to anyone but he was already concerned about the trouble brewing around in many kingdoms and the fact that Orochimaru, his sworn enemy from his past, has returned to be the cause of all the assaults in The Kingdom of Ice, Sand and Sun. Even worse, as Mikoto had reported, Sasuke was marked as well and might be their next target. And he had better things to do in taking action in safeguarding his son rather than handling trivial matters right now.

The man bowing in front of him, nodded in response. When he looked up, his face revealed his slit-like eyes, canine-like teeth and two red fang marks on his cheeks.

"And you are?"

"I am Kiba Inuzuka, Your Majesty. I tend to the horses."

"So what is it that you wished to bring my attention?"

"Your Majesty, there may be a reason to believe that there maybe a potential threat to the Royal Family's lives."

At this, Fugaku straightened up, immediately alert at this piece of information. 'Had _he_ made his next move already?' He thought, while recalling his wife telling him about the snake incident. "Explain." He ordered.

The brown haired man nodded. "I am a confidant of the garden's caretaker, Your Majesty. He tells me of a servant girl who spends time in Queen Mikoto's garden. He also tells me whenever he sneaks up on her to surprise her, she would often punch him or throw him over her shoulder. It was strange enough, that a servant girl would even hurt the caretaker since he is quite skilled in fighting himself. So I decided to spy, and what was even strange was the fact that the girl did seem to have knowledge in combat; something that a mere maid could not possibly possess."

The king frowned. This was indeed strange. If it was a male servant, then he would let it slide, but a female one? Female warriors in the present day, were often those who wish to be one; these are rare. And the females who were those of noble birth, who train the art of combat were even rarer. Since it is obvious that the girl cannot possibly be born from a noble family, then that means she is a soldier. Most probably a soldier sent by his enemies, even worse Orochimaru.

However, without solid proof, Fugaku cannot take such drastic measures. "You do realize, this is a very serious allegation." The king stated.

Kiba nodded. "Yes, Your Majesty, I only wanted to inform you."

"I see, I suppose questioning her would suffice. If she is indeed guilty in her accusation, then her actions will speak louder than her words." He declared. "What is her name?"

"I believe her name is Sakura, Your Majesty."

* * *

 **Uh oh...looks like our heroine is in deep trouble. What do you think will happen to Sakura? Who do you think the trap from the last chapter was actually for? Will Itachi EVER find out about Sakura's identity? Yeah I know I've failed you guys for a long time. So what did you think? Was it good? Was it too cliche? I'm sorry if it was.**

 **But I know one thing: I'm glad to be back. I really am. So I really apologise for the long wait. Oh and reviews if you please?**

 **Read. Review. Enjoy.**

 _ **~Avenger360Blossom**_


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